Seabirds experience navigation errors due to long-distance flight jet lag

• A study led by Oxford University found that long-distance flights can cause seabirds to experience a mismatch between their internal body clocks and local time.
• This mismatch, similar to jet lag in humans, leads to predictable navigation errors in seabirds when they navigate by the sun.
• Tracking data from Manx shearwaters on the west coast of the UK showed that these birds can be thrown hundreds of miles off course when their body clocks get out of sync with local time.
• The study's results have been published in the journal Science.
• The research highlights the impact of long-distance flights on seabirds' ability to navigate accurately.