Caribbean spiny lobster and Rock pigeon (photos from Wikimedia)

16 August 2026

Answer: It’s more than just the word “rock.”

Pigeons are known for their ability to fly home even when dropped off in an unfamiliar location, a feat they are able to accomplish, in part, because they have an internal compass that can see Earth’s magnetic field.

World Magnetic Map showing declination from true north (from NOAA World Magnetic Model products)

Where is the compass inside a pigeon? A study published this spring by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior revealed that pigeons navigate using magnetic sensors in their livers. The study highlights these key points.

• Previously unknown navigation mechanism: Pigeons may sense the Earth’s magnetic field using iron-rich immune cells in their livers, a quantum effect.
• Navigation experiments: Removing iron-containing immune cells in the liver disrupted pigeons’ sense of direction under overcast skies when the sun was not visible.
• Sensing via the immune system: Findings suggest a new link between immunity and sensory perception in birds, and potentially other animal species.

Magnetic sensing and navigation is a trait that both rock pigeons and rock lobsters have in common.

Rock lobsters, also known as spiny lobsters, live in crevices and come out at night to eat.

Spiny lobsters are unique among the crustaceans in that they undergo large, coordinated migrations every year. Sometimes in the fall over 50 lobsters will line up in single file and walk along the ocean floor. The tips of each lobster’s long antenna will always be in contact with the lobster in front of it, so that even if the lobster cannot see, it will not lose its place in line. No one knows the reasons for this migration, but it could be in response to changing environmental conditions (i.e. temperature) or to mate or to molt en masse.

How are spiny lobsters finding their way?

In 2016 researchers watched how Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) moved in reaction to “north” and “south” magnetic pulses in the lab. The lobsters were spot on for detecting magnetic fields. Read more at Oceanbites.org: Migrating lobsters use magnets to find their way.

What does their migration look like? PBS Nature planted a robot spy-lobster among Caribbean spiny lobsters to track their migration. When the group began to migrate, the spy-lobster followed.

Eventually the real lobsters outpacing the spy-lobster. They know where they are going and left the spy behind.