Shorebird roost

In autumn, migratory shorebirds, such as the Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis), in the Pumicestone Passage head back north to their breeding grounds in Siberia, Northern China and Alaska via the East Asian-Australian Flyway. The Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica) can fly incredible distances, with a record of 13,560 kilometres from Alaska to the Australian state of Tasmania without stopping.

These birds navigate their migrations using their ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field. A protein in their eyes that lets them "see" Earth's magnetic fields. A class of proteins called cryptochromes - photoreceptors sensitive to blue light, Cry4, are responsible for their ability to orient themselves by detecting magnetic fields, a sense called magnetoreception.