Why can homing pigeons return to their nests?

The long-distance homing of pigeons depends on the following three aspects:

1, magnetic field identification homing stage

2. In the middle of the magnetic blind zone, the memory homing stage.

3. The homing stage of visual and auditory recognition.

In other words, the flight location and destination are divided into three sections, and pigeons find their home through the above three steps.

1 Because the magnetic field is different in every part of the earth, pigeons come to their home because of the magnetic declination.

2. When you are close to home, the magnetic declination will decrease, so that pigeons can't find their way home by magnetic declination. Pigeons can only find their way home by referring to their previous memories, the rays of the sun and the direction of mountains and rivers.

3. Pigeons have good eyesight and hearing. By the time the pigeons fly out of the blind area of the magnetic field, they will be home soon. At this time, he can see some things he saw as a child, such as some tall buildings, and he can also hear some sounds, such as the chirping of pigeons in the same group, so the pigeons will go home smoothly by sight and hearing.

However, when any of these three links goes wrong, it will also make it difficult for pigeons to go home smoothly.

For example, the landlord said that tying a small magnet will interfere with the identification of the pigeon's magnetic declination, so the pigeon can't go home normally, but it is not absolutely impossible to go home. There are also many homing pigeons with super training and memory, and they can go home only by relying on their eyesight, hearing and memory.