The robin disturbed by electromagnetic pollution

According to a German study, the bird could disappear from urban areas. AM radio signals and electronic devices interfere with its sensory system and its ability to migratory orientation.

The robin loses its bearings. This is revealed by a study from the German University of Oldenburg published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. Electromagnetic pollution totally blurs the sense of orientation of robins which, like many passerines, locate themselves thanks to the earth's magnetic field during their migrations.

And it's not the telephone transmitters mobile and their high frequencies which are to blame but AM radio signals and electronic equipment. They would cause the robin to desert urban areas.

Between 2004 and 2006, scientists noticed that robins could no longer orient themselves when they passed near the campus of the University of Oldenburg.

In order to better understand this phenomenon, they carried out several experiments for seven years.
The first consisted of building small wooden shelters fitted with an aluminum mesh connected to the ground. Thus the electromagnetic radiation is blocked but the earth's magnetic field remains intact.

“The observed effect on the orientation faculties of the birds was spectacular: with the aluminum screens in place, the birds found their normal migratory route,” the study points out.

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