# Manx shearwaters show 'jet lag' in GPS data from 3,688 Atlantic trips, causing sun compass errors

- Published: 2026-11-14 06:28 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Biology & biochemistry
- Tags: Manx shearwater, seabird jet lag, sun compass, internal clock, GPS tracking, Puffinus puffinus, animal navigation, chronobiology, University of Liverpool
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-a4894d85c05806d12c0dd951_manx_shearwaters_show/

**Two decades of GPS tracks of 1,045 Manx shearwaters show that fast east-west flights shift the birds' internal clock against local time and bend their course.**

![Manx shearwaters show 'jet lag' in GPS data from 3,688 Atlantic trips, causing sun compass errors](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/df3e87f4a9df33d1.jpg)
*Martin Reith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0*

A study published in Science, led by the University of Oxford with University of Liverpool ecologists, reports that Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) experience time shifts during long flights that produce predictable errors in sun compass orientation. The team analysed two decades of GPS tracking data from 1,045 birds, covering 3,688 foraging trips across the Atlantic [1].

Manx shearwaters breed on islands off the western coasts of the UK and Ireland and regularly travel hundreds of kilometres out to sea in search of food. The tracking data were collected over many years by the Liverpool researchers Ollie Padget and Joe Wynn, who also helped formulate the central question of the study [1].

## Sun compass and the internal clock

Many animals use the Sun compass to guide movement, sometimes over thousands of kilometres. Because the Sun moves across the sky during the day, the method depends on an endogenous clock that tracks the Sun's arc [1].

Animals travelling east-west cross longitudes quickly, so their internal clock can fall out of step with local solar time. The authors describe this as similar to the mismatch that causes jet lag in humans [1].

## What the tracking showed

Using GPS, the authors found that shearwaters experience such time shifts during homing flights, and that these generate predictable errors in orientation by the Sun compass [1]. The team compared observed changes in flight direction with those predicted from the birds' movements and the changing position of the Sun, using statistical models [1].

The results supported the explanation based on disrupted internal clocks. According to the publication summary, this explanation also fitted the tracking data better than an alternative based on changes in the Earth's magnetic field [1].

The birds kept using the Sun compass even when they had access to compass-independent cues while following the coast [1]. The authors write that rapid longitudinal movements may affect other processes governed by the endogenous clock, and that conserved chronobiological mechanisms impose substantial constraints on navigation [1].

The paper is titled 'Rapid longitudinal flights cause time-shifts and sun compass error' (DOI: 10.1126/science.adz2542) [1].

## Sources

1. [Science](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adz2542)
2. [news.liverpool.ac.uk](https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2026/11/13/seabirds-suffer-jet-lag-that-can-send-them-off-course-study-finds)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-a4894d85c05806d12c0dd951_manx_shearwaters_show/