Radio waves disrupt the magnetic “compass” in robins, according to a study published on Wednesday that is likely to fuel debate about the safety of electronic devices.
In a long and careful experiment, German scientists found that migrating robins became disorientated when exposed to electromagnetic fields at levels far lower than the safety threshold for humans.
“For decades, it has been hotly debated whether man-made electric and magnetic fields affected biological processes, including human health,” the authors, from Oldenburg University, wrote in Nature.
The tests show “a reproducible effect of anthropogenic [man-made] electromagnetic noise on the behaviour of an intact vertebrate.”
Birds have long been thought to navigate using light and Earth’s magnetic field.
