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Anthropogenic electromagnetic noise disrupts magnetic compass orientation in a migratory bird
Abstract
Electromagnetic noise is emitted everywhere humans use electronic devices. For decades, it has been hotly debated whether man-made electric and magnetic fields affect biological processes, including human health. So far, no putative effect of anthropogenic electromagnetic noise at intensities below the guidelines adopted by the World Health Organization has withstood the test of independent replication under truly blinded experimental conditions. No effect has therefore been widely accepted as scientifically proven. Here we show that migratory birds are unable to use their magnetic compass in the presence of urban electromagnetic noise. When European robins, Erithacus rubecula, were exposed to the background electromagnetic noise present in unscreened wooden huts at the University of Oldenburg campus, they could not orient using their magnetic compass. Their magnetic orientation capabilities reappeared in electrically grounded, aluminium-screened huts, which attenuated electromagnetic noise in the frequency range from 50 kHz to 5 MHz by approximately two orders of magnitude. When the grounding was removed or when broadband electromagnetic noise was deliberately generated inside the screened and grounded huts, the birds again lost their magnetic orientation capabilities. The disruptive effect of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields is not confined to a narrow frequency band and birds tested far from sources of electromagnetic noise required no screening to orient with their magnetic compass. These fully double-blinded tests document a reproducible effect of anthropogenic electromagnetic noise on the behaviour of an intact vertebrate.
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“It is the singlet -triplet mixing that experiences the influence of the Earth's magnetic field and that has offered some way of explaining behavioural observations such as the light-dependence [94], inclination aspect [95] and resonance effects of the avian compass [96,97].”
From The future of quantum biology (2018) · cites this paper as [97]
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“1–10 MHz gives the total amplitude of the altering magnetic field near the preparation B = 8 nT, which roughly corresponds to conditions in which birds show magnetic orientation in behavioral experiments [24].”
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Spiecker, L., Leberecht, B., Langebrake, C., Laurien, M., Apte, S., Mouritsen, H., Gerlach, G., & Liedvogel, M. (2021) · e-Neuroforum · doi:10.1515/nf-2021-0009 · Cited by 6
Self-citationInvestigating the impact of weak geomagnetic fluctuations on pigeon races
Jandačka, P., Burda, H., & Ščučka, J. (2022) · Journal of Comparative Physiology A · doi:10.1007/s00359-021-01534-x · Cited by 6
“An anthropogenic megahertz electromagnetic noise with a magnetic component in nanotesla range influenced the orientation of European robins in a laboratory (Engels et al. 2014) and artificial megahertz magnetic variations in nanotesla range influenced the orientation of free-living migratory robins in the field (Wilts…”
BackgroundOzkan, K., Langley, J. M., Talbott, J. W., Kleist, N. J., & Francis, C. D. (2024) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.18558 · Cited by 5
Cobussen, M. (2022) · Open Book Publishers · doi:10.11647/obp.0288 · Cited by 5
Bojarinova, J., Kavokin, K. V., Fedorishcheva, A., Sannikov, D., Cherbunin, R. V., Pakhomov, A. Y., & Chernetsov, N. (2023) · Journal für Ornithologie · doi:10.1007/s10336-023-02129-w · Cited by 5
“Having in mind the discussion on the relative efficiency of single-frequency and broadband OMFs in suppressing the magnetic orientation of birds (Engels et al. 2014; Hiscock et al. 2017; Pakhomov et al. 2017; Schwarze et al. 2016; Leberecht et al. 2022, 2023), it would make sense to stage a similar…”
InfluentialBassetto, M., Reichl, T., Kobylkov, D., Kattnig, D. R., Michael Winklhofer, A., Hore, P. J., & Mouritsen, H. (2024) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07321-3 · Cited by 5
Self-citationHenshaw, D. L., & Philips, A. (2024) · International Journal of Radiation Biology · doi:10.1080/09553002.2024.2435329 · Cited by 5
“RF fields as low as 1 nT anthropogenic electromagnetic noise in the MHz range were shown to disrupt magnetic compass orientation in migratory European robins, Erithacus rubecula (Engels et al. 2014).”
Monadizadeh, S., Kibert, C. J., Li, J., Woo, J., Asutosh, A. T., Roostaie, S., & Kouhirostami, M. (2021) · Journal of Green Building · doi:10.3992/jgb.16.2.55 · Cited by 5
Anisotropic and Coherent Control of Radical Pairs by Optimized RF Fields
Tateno, A., Masuzawa, K., Nagashima, H., & Maeda, K. (2023) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms24119700 · Cited by 5
“…migratory birds [ 15,20,21], implies that RF irradiation of a certain waveform may be able to induce bird orientation. fact that broadband RF irradiation disrupts the orientation of migratory birds [15,20,21], implies that RF irradiation of a certain waveform may be able to induce bird orientation.”
BackgroundInfluentialConstruction of heterogeneous wave-absorbing structures inspired by the structure of cucumbers
Lu, X., Deng, Y., Wang, C., Li, X., Zhang, H., Liu, Y., Liu, C., Jian, X., & Chen, Y. (2025) · Journal of Materials Chemistry C · doi:10.1039/d5tc01548k · Cited by 5
Muheim, R., Åkesson, S., Bäckman, J., & Sjöberg, S. (2017) · Journal of Avian Biology · doi:10.1111/jav.01303 · Cited by 5
“…MHz range (1–10 MHz) have been shown to disrupt magnetic compass orientation of birds and other animals by directly interfering with the primary magnetoreception process of the light-dependent magnetic compass (Ritz et al. 2004, 2009, Engels et al. 2014, Muheim et al. 2016, Schwarze et al. 2016).”
Miclăuş, S., Răcuciu, M., & Bechet, P. (2017) · Progress In Electromagnetics Research B · doi:10.2528/pierb17010101 · Cited by 5
Levitt, B. B., Lai, H. C., Manville, A. M., & Scarato, T. (2025) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1693873 · Cited by 6
A GPS assisted translocation experiment to study the homing behavior of red deer
Silovský, V., Landler, L., Faltusová, M., Börger, L., Burda, H., Holton, M. D., Lagner, O., Malkemper, E. P., Olejarz, A., Spießberger, M., et al. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-56951-0 · Cited by 4
To protect ecological system from electromagnetic radiation of mobile communication
Das, A., & Kundu, S. (2019) · International Conference on Distributed Computing and Networking (ICDCN) · doi:10.1145/3288599.3295595 · Cited by 4
“Migratory birds are unable to use their magnetic compass in the presence of urban electromagnetic noise [15].”
BackgroundStatic magnetic fields from earphones: Detailed measurements plus some open questions
Makinistian, L., Zastko, L., Tvarožná, A., Días, L. E., & Belyaev, I. Y. (2022) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113907 · Cited by 4
Balmorí, A. (2023) · Journal for Nature Conservation · doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2023.126520 · Cited by 4
Vorobieva, O. V., Филенко, О. Ф., Филипповна, И. Е., Yusupov, V. I., Zotov, K. V., & Bagratashvili, V. N. (2016) · BIOPHYSICS · doi:10.1134/s0006350916060270 · Cited by 4
Scavenging of galvinoxyl spin 1/2 radicals in the processing of organic spintronics
Cho, J. M., Song, C. E., Moon, S., Shin, W. S., Hong, S., Kim, S. H., Cho, S., & Lee, J. (2018) · Organic Electronics · doi:10.1016/j.orgel.2018.01.002 · Cited by 4
Ectosymbionts alter spontaneous responses to the Earth’s magnetic field in a crustacean
Landler, L., Skelton, J., Painter, M. S., Youmans, P. W., Muheim, R., Creed, R. P., Brown, B. L., & Phillips, J. B. (2019) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-38404-7 · Cited by 4
Langebrake, C., Manthey, G., Frederiksen, A., Ramos, J. S. L., Dutheil, J. Y., Chetverikova, R., Solov’yov, I. A., Mouritsen, H., & Liedvogel, M. (2023) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2023.03.25.534197 · Cited by 4
“We will further investigate these finding 383 experimentally in the field in the coming years to test if tyrant flycatchers are able to use 384 the Earth‘s magnetic field as a compass cue for orientation - and if so, whether their 385 magnetic compass is a light-dependent [64] inclination compass [60] that can be 386…”
BackgroundSelf-citationDeng, Y., Wang, Y., Yang, M., Pang, G., Cheng, J., Xie, Y., Zhou, S., Liu, C., Jian, X., & Chen, Y. (2026) · Carbon · doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2026.121709 · Cited by 3
Metadata
- Authors
- Engels, S., Schneider, N.-L., Lefeldt, N., Hein, C. M., Zapka, M., Michalik, A., Elbers, D., Kittel, A., Hore, P. J., & Mouritsen, H.
- Affiliations
- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Mouritsen, Henrik
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2014-05
- Volume
- 509
- Issue
- 7500
- Pages
- 353-356
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2155559532
- Cited by
- 403
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 15
- FWCI
- 20.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Electromagnetic Fields and Biological Effects
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Avian ecology and behavior
- Keywords
- magnetic compass orientation, magnetic orientation, European robin, Erithacus rubecula, bird migration, geomagnetic field, electromagnetic interference shielding, grounding, bioelectromagnetics, songbirds, urbanization effects on wildlife
- MeSH terms
- Aluminum, Animals, Cities, Conservation of Natural Resources, Double-Blind Method, Electricity, Electromagnetic Fields, Electronics, Germany, Housing, Orientation, Radio Waves, Seasons, Universities, Reproducibility of Results, Songbirds, Animal Migration, Magnetic Fields
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