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Electron microscopy image of the pigeon liver muscle shows the liver macrophage (blue) in contact with the nerve fiber (yellow), which helps them transmit (“magnetic”) information to the pigeon brain.
Lisowski et al. (2026) Science
Electron microscopy image of the pigeon liver muscle shows the liver macrophage (blue) in contact with the nerve fiber (yellow), which helps them transmit (“magnetic”) information to the pigeon brain.
Lisowski et al. (2026) Science
Pigeon liver histology, showing iron-rich macrophages (blue).
Lisowski et al. (2026) Science
Pigeon liver histology, showing iron-rich macrophages (blue).
Lisowski et al. (2026) Science
Electron microscopy image of pigeon liver tissue, with all cell types.
Lisowski et al. (2026) Science
Electron microscopy image of pigeon liver tissue, with all cell types.
Lisowski et al. (2026) Science
Pigeon liver histology, showing iron-rich macrophages (blue).
Lisowski et al. (2026) Science
Electron microscopy image of pigeon liver tissue, with all cell types.
Lisowski et al. (2026) Science
All pigeons in the control group did well on their return to the aviary; those who received the injection lost heart and did not return home until the next day, when the sun rose. A subsequent experiment with pigeons treated with clodronate under sunlight did not affect their homing ability because they were able to use solar cues. This shows that pigeons use different methods of solar conditions and magnetic fields to fly.
The authors think that these results may also explain bats and blind rats, which lack cryptochromes or live in low-light environments. It may also work for other shark species that can swim in straight lines for long distances—such as the scalloped hammerhead shark, which appears to move in a straight line using the tips found to have geomagnetic anomalies. “After the reception of the magneto, our findings contribute to a broader concept: macrophages in the muscle can function as gastric cells, providing direct, important responses to the brain,” the authors concluded.
In a form of cooperationSimon Spiro of the Zoological Society of London and Hal Drakesmith of the University of Oxford gave some warnings. For example, iron cells in the liver may be due to the diet of captive pigeons, as many zoo animals are high in iron. Nor does he think that it is obvious that the liver is the best and most capable organ for detecting magnetic forces. It is possible that doping pigeons with clodronate and depleted macrophages is elsewhere in the body, skewing histological results.
Spiro and Drakesmith mention a 2025 educationwhich was also published in Science, which used a different, international method and suggested another way: Special cells inside the brain of pigeons transmit magnetic information, thus facilitating movement. These two pathways do not require light, so it is possible that there may be two or more pathways to help pigeons navigate.
“Perhaps one pathway is responsible for long-distance navigation, while the other is used for destination detection, both working in a linear fashion,” Spiro and Drakesmith said. Of course, it would be wise to have several ways to get home in the dark.
DOI: Science, 2026. 10.1126/science.ady2486 (About DOIs).
