Manx shearwaters can get jet lagged on Atlantic flights

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 31 Oct, 12:04 · Archive

Manx shearwaters returning from Atlantic foraging trips lose their sense of direction when rapid eastward flights disrupt their internal clocks.

Researchers have discovered that Manx shearwaters experience jet lag when flying home from foraging trips across the Atlantic. An Oxford-led study analysed 20 years of GPS tracking data from the seabirds, which breed around the UK and Ireland and regularly fly hundreds of kilometres over the North Atlantic to feed.

When the birds fly east on their return journeys, their rapid travel across time zones causes their internal clocks to run up to an hour behind local time. This disrupts their navigation systems, as shearwaters rely on the position of the sun as a compass to find their way home. The effect is measurable: the birds' sense of direction becomes skewed by their desynchronised body clocks.

Adult shearwaters are better equipped to handle this disruption. The study found that when their clocks fell out of sync, the birds veered off course by at most about 15 degrees and were able to correct their bearings during flight. This correction added only an estimated three miles to a 600-mile journey.

First-time foragers, however, face a much greater risk. Less experienced birds lack the ability to correct course mid-flight and could easily fly off course by hundreds of miles, putting them in genuine danger.

Dr Patrick Lewin, a behavioural and sensory ecologist at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study, said the findings demonstrate that jet lag is not unique to humans. "The bird's internal clock can be subject to a jet lag phenomenon, manifesting as birds flying off course," he said. Most previous studies on birds' biological clocks have been conducted in laboratory conditions, making this analysis of wild birds' behaviour particularly significant.

How it is being reported

• Seabirds racing home over the ocean can get jet-laggedA long flight home from feeding grounds messes with birds' internal clocks.Ars Technica · 31 Oct, 11:15
• Why jet lag throws even foraging seabirds off courseOxford study shows Manx shearwaters lose direction when their body clocks get out of sync Seabirds returning from foraging trips can be thrown hundreds of miles off course by a form of jet lag that arises when their body clocks get out of sync with local time, researchers say. Tracking data from Manx shearwaters on the west coast of the UK revealed that when the birds returned home to their colonies after trips over the Atlantic, their rapid eastward flights disrupted their sense of time and navigation. Continue reading...The Guardian · 29 Oct, 18:00
• Even birds get jet lagged, study showsA species of seabirds appears to become disoriented on flights back to its nest due to shifting time zones.NPR · 29 Oct, 18:00

In this story: Manx shearwaters · University of Oxford · Patrick Lewin · Atlantic · UK · Ireland · Wales

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