Star Navigation of Nocturnal Migrating Birds: The 1958 Planetarium Experiments

Abstract

In search of paths and goals of migrating birds, the method of birdbanding has yielded, among other results, one important fact: Every year many birds take their bearings along particular routes across hundreds and thousands of miles toward their different goals, which are typical for each species as well as for various populations of a single species. Furthermore, birds, which have been drifted or purposively displaced, are able to find their way back to their original home, flyway, or destination.