Progress in the research on the biophysical mechanism underlying avian magnetoreception
鸟类磁感受的生物物理机制研究进展

Behavior experiments have shown that many birds can sense the Earth's magnetic field and use it as a cue for homing and migration. The geomagnetic field can provide birds with a reliable and omnipresent cue for navigation, with the vector of the geomagnetic field providing directional reference (compass) while changes in intensity and/or inclination providing positional information (map). In this paper, the two prevalent modes of avian magnetoreception, magnetite-based magnetoreception and chemical magnetoreception, were documented and their experimental evidences were summarized. Finally following the review and comments on the mode of transduction for the magnetic sense and brain regions underlying magnetic information processing, the future research directions were discussed.