Throw Back Thursday (TBT):

Did you know that birds have built-in compasses that they use for migration? Unfortunately a few young birds are born each year with compass errors that send them in the wrong direction.  Their mistakes spawn Rare Bird Alerts but their errors can be fatal.

In November 2008 when a young brant stopped at Pittsburgh’s Duck Hollow, I learned that migratory birds make mistakes in direction but not distance.  They fly as far as they’re supposed to go but some head in the wrong direction.

Click here to read more about bird navigation in this 2008 article entitled Compass Errors.

(photo of a Suunto compass from the Suunto website)