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4h ago

Study Says Pigeon Livers Hold Iron Cells That May Act as Magnetic Compasses

Confirmation would give immune cells a sensory role that reshapes research into how animals sense Earth's magnetic field.

Scientists trained pigeons to fly a 12-mile route and tested how weather — and biology — changed their navigational skills.
The research team found iron-rich immune cells may help pigeons sense Earth's magnetic field and use it for navigation.
Pigeons on the ground
A gray pigeon with irridescent green neck feathers takes off from the hands of a person.

Overview

  • A paper published in Science on May 28, 2026 reports laboratory and GPS-tracked flight experiments that point to iron-rich liver macrophages as candidates for magnetic sensing in homing pigeons.
  • In behavioral tests the team used clodronate to deplete macrophages and found treated pigeons lost orientation on overcast days but navigated normally on sunny days when visual cues were available.
  • Microscopy and magnetometry showed iron crystallized as oxide nanoparticles inside liver macrophages with superparamagnetic properties and that many of those cells sit next to liver nerve fibers, suggesting a possible path to the brain.
  • Several outside experts and the paper's commentators raised key caveats: the lab magnets used are far stronger than Earth’s field, superparamagnetism at the nanoparticle scale may not produce a usable neural signal, and clodronate acts systemically so effects cannot yet be pinned solely to the liver.
  • Authors and commentators call for direct neural tracing, liver-specific manipulations, independent replication and tests in other species to confirm whether this mechanism is general, complements other proposed sensors, or is a provisional explanation.