Seabirds racing home over the ocean can get jet-lagged
摘要
一项发表于《Science》的研究以北大西洋的马恩岛海鸥为对象，发现这种海鸟在跨时区飞行后会像人类一样出现“时差反应”。由于它们依靠太阳导航，这种生理节律的紊乱会使其罗盘方向出现可测量的偏差，从而影响归巢导航。
Flying across several time zones often causes jet lag, a feeling when the body insists it's the middle of the night while the clock says it's lunchtime. Now it turns out this nuisance is not exclusive to humans.
A new Science study on Manx shearwaters, seabirds that can fly hundreds of kilometers a day over the North Atlantic, shows they jet-lag themselves during their excursions. And because these birds navigate by the Sun, that jet lag leaves a measurable mark—it skews their compass.
Clockwork compass
Patrick Lewin is a behavioral and sensory ecologist at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study. “Manx shearwaters are medium-sized birds, about the same size as a pigeon,” Lewin said. “They are white underneath and black on top, but they have very long wings, and they are closely related to albatross.” Manx shearwaters nest in burrows on coastal islands around the North Atlantic. Most breed around the UK and Ireland, with about half of their population living in Wales.
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