Navigational Theory 1: Magnetic Polar Fields

With all the modern technology available to us in this day and age, scientists are still uncertain precisely how homing pigeons (like our Rock Doves), know how to find their way home. In the next several days, I'd like to post the many theories scientists and pigeon fanciers have come up with to explain this amazing ability. I'll begin with the theory of magnetic polar fields.

The Magnetic Polar Fields Theory
Some scientists have found that the birds have a small amount of magnetite in their heads. Like a compass, the birds can feel magnetic north. Once they feel magnetic north, they can then figure out whether they need to fly south, east, or west, all depending on which way is home.

Speaking of magnetics, there is a thing called “solar storms, where the Sun has a burst called a “flare,” and the magnetic sun’s solar storm messes up the Earth’s magnetic fields, which temporarily throws the birds’ navigational abilities off.

This is the most popularly believed theory by most scientists and pigeon fanciers. In fact, there have been times when people who raced their pigeons have had huge losses of birds. When they checked the solar weather, they found that there had been a solar storm with strong enough magnitudes to have affected not only the birds, but to cause radio blackouts in some areas.

Interesting fact: A solar storm with strong magnitudes can cause your cell phone to ring!