Hundreds of racing pigeons have been disappearing over a sleepy pocket of North East England, earning the region a reputation as the "Birdmuda Triangle."
On Saturday (Aug. 25), the Telegraph reported, one club of pigeon fanciers released a flock of 230 birds from North Yorkshire. Only 13 birds arrived at their destination in Scotland.
Some of the aggrieved hobbyists — who routinely release trained pigeons
tasked with finding their way home from distances of hundreds of miles —
are now considering grounding their remaining birds until the mystery
is solved.
Pigeons have long baffled scientists with their uncanny navigation
abilities. Earlier this year, researchers at Baylor College identified
one component of the birds' internal GPS
when they showed that their brains contain a specialized group of cells
that measure the strength and direction of the Earth's magnetic field,
serving as a compass.
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