Instinctual Compass

Today, navigational devices are an integral pan of humans’ lives. The flight of airplanes, launching of satellites.
sailing of ships, the walks of hikers and even finding the homes of friends would be difficult or impossible without these devices. This knowledge was obtained as a result of continuous efforts of scientists over the years. However, it is interesting that we are perhaps the last creatures to use navigation systems. From thousands of years ago, other creatures on this planet have been using their own navigation systems. Of course their systems of navigation have no cost and do not pollute the environment or cause physical harm for themselves or others.
The robin, domestic doves, butterflies, termites, flies, blind mice, ants, elephants, eels and even small bacteria are among the animals that can detect the Earth’s magnetic force to identify their route. For years scientists have investigated how animals use this power. On the beaks of some birds are tiny structures in the nanometer range, which by being sensitive to the Earth’s magnetic field, helps them to navigate.
Migratory birds, for instance, have an instinctual compass that guides them on their migration paths. Red knots are a type of migratory bird common lo Canada. When cold weather sets in, rendering their Canadian home inhospitable, these birds travel to South America. The distance they travel in this yearly migration is approximately 16,000 kilometers. In spring. Red knots travel the same distance back to Canada. How do these birds succeed in traveling such a great distance without getting lost? Some scientists are of the opinion that they can sense the magnetic field that exists between the North and South Poles and utilize it in tracing their migratory path.  Insects are relatively tiny creatures, yet they employ spectacular methods of aviation. Scientists now know that butterflies and moths are capable-like birds and mammals-of traveling over long distances that may span hundreds of kilometers. To cover such long-distance migration, these insects ride the winds.
Many insects embark on seasonal migration. Certain butterflies, for instance, migrate from the British Isles to the Mediterranean region in autumn, returning back in spring. How these butterflies traveled such long distances without losing their bearings was long a mystery for the scientific community. Tracking these butterflies over a seven-year period, British scientists realized these butterflies enjoyed an internal compass, which enabled them to maintain their orientation, and used different streams of wind to achieve speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour, hastening their travel.