Has birds’ mysterious ‘compass’ organ been found at last?

Pigeons (Columba livia) seem to be able to sense magnetic fields by detecting tiny electrical currents in their inner ears. Researchers performed advanced brain mapping as well single-cell RNA sequencing of pigeon inner-ear cells. Both lines of evidence point to the inner ear as the birds’ ‘magnetoreception’ organ. Such an organ gives the birds an ‘inner compass’ that could help to explain their navigational nous over long distances.