Natural History Wanderings

NPR had an interview on all things considered with Jonathan Hagstrum of the U.S. Geological Survey who believes that birds  use sound maps to navigate. He discusses how birds very low-frequency sounds called infrasound, which is below human hearing.

He talks about how waves that are deep in the ocean  are constantly producing acoustic energy, and the acoustic energy travels through the Earth as seismic energy. He believes pigeons and other birds probably can hear these waves when they are reradiated in the atmosphere as infrasound and that pigeons and other birds are using them to navigate.

You can listen to the interview or read the transcript at: Birds May Use ‘Sound Maps’ To Navigate Huge Distances : NPR.