They have no one to follow: how migrating birds use quantum mechanics to navigate

To the seasoned ear, the trilling of chiffchaffs and wheatears is as sure a sign of spring as the first defiant crocuses. By March, these birds have started to return from their winter breaks, navigating their way home to breeding grounds thousands of kilometres away – some species returning to home territory with centimetre precision. Although the idea of migration often conjures up striking visions of vast flocks of geese and murmurations of starlings, “the majority,” says Miriam Liedvogel, director of the Institute of Avian Research (IAR) in Germany, “migrate at night and by themselves, so they have no one

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