Quantum Birds

121 snips

Feb 14, 2025

Join researchers as they capture stunning northern saw-whet owls in Pennsylvania, diving into avian navigation and the celestial cues these birds rely on. Discover how quantum physics may unlock the mysteries of their extraordinary ability to sense Earth's magnetic field. The role of cryptochrome in birds' vision and navigation is explored, revealing a fascinating 'chemical compass.' With playful storytelling, the journey highlights the intersection of science, nature, and the enigmatic world of migratory birds.

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ANECDOTE

Owl Catching at Hawk Mountain

Annie McEwen visited Hawk Mountain to observe migrating owls, particularly saw-whet owls.
She witnessed researchers catching the owls in nets and banding them for tracking.

INSIGHT

Bird Navigation Mystery

Birds navigate using various cues, including stars, the sun, landmarks, smell, and sound.
Even without these, birds possess an internal compass, suggesting the use of Earth's magnetic field.

INSIGHT

Quantum Entanglement in Birds

Klaus Schulten proposed that birds use radical pairs, entangled electrons, to sense magnetic fields.
His theory, deemed too radical, was initially rejected, as the quantum world is fragile and easily disrupted.

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Annie McEwen went to a mountain in Pennsylvania to help catch some migratory owls. Then Scott Weidensaul peeled back the owl’s feathery face disc, so that she could look at the back of its eyeball. No owls were harmed in the process, but this brief glimpse into the inner workings of a bird sent her off on a journey to a place where fleshy animal business bumps into the mathematics of subatomic particles. With help from Henrik Mouristen, we hear how one of the biggest mysteries in biology might finally find an answer in the weird world of quantum mechanics, where the classical rules of space and time are upended, and electrons dance to the beat of an enormous invisible force field that surrounds our planet.

A very special thanks to Rosy Tucker, Eric Snyder, Holly Merker, and Seth Benz at the Hog Island Audubon Camp. Thank you to the owl-tagging volunteers Chris Bortz, Cassie Bortz, and Cheryl Faust at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Thank you to Jeremy Bloom and Jim McEwen for helping with the owls. Thank you to Isabelle Andreesen at the University of Oldenburg and thank you to Andrew Farnsworth at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, as well as Nick Halmagyi and Andrew Otto. Thank you everyone!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported by - Annie McEwen
Produced by - Annie McEwen
Original music and sound design contributed by - Annie McEwen
with field recording and reporting help by - Jeremy S. Bloom
Fact-checking by - Natalie Middleton
and Edited by - Becca Bressler

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Places -
Check out Hog Island Audubon Camp at https://hogisland.audubon.org/. If you like birds, this is the place for you. The people, the food (my god the food), the views, the hiking, and especially the BIRDS are incredible.

And if it’s raptors you’re specifically interested in, I highly recommend visiting Hawk Mountain Sanctuary www.hawkmountain.org. You can watch these amazing birds wheeling high above a stunning forested valley, if you’re into that sort of thing… and maybe if you’re lucky you’ll even catch sight of some teeny weeny owls.

Books
Scott Weidensaul will make you love birds if you don’t already. Check out his books and go see him talk! http://www.scottweidensaul.com/

Website
If you want to learn more about the fascinating and wildly interdisciplinary field of magnetoreception in birds, you can dig into the work of Henrick Mouritsen at the University of Oldenburg and his colleagues at the University of Oxford here: https://www.quantumbirds.eu/

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