During its nonstop transoceanic migration, what two cues does the bar-tailed godwit primarily rely on to navigate without landing?

Nature

Which shorebird is known for flying roughly 7,500 miles nonstop across the open Pacific Ocean during migration, guided only by magnetic fields and the sun?

Bar-tailed godwits navigate 7,500 miles over open ocean without stopping, using only magnetic fields and the sun.

Nature

Which animal can detect the Earth's magnetic field and uses it as a navigational compass during long-distance migration?

Loggerhead sea turtles can navigate thousands of kilometres of open ocean using Earth's magnetic field as a GPS — and females return to the exact beach where they hatched, sometimes 30 years later.

Nature

Biologists note that the oxpecker's feeding habits on large mammals can shift between which two types of ecological relationship?

Oxpecker birds eat parasites off large animals, but sometimes peck open wounds and drink blood—the relationship shifts between helpful and parasitic mid-interaction.

Nature

What term do ecologists use for the risk Arctic goose chicks face when hatching no longer lines up with the brief peak in tundra plant nutrition?

Some Arctic geese time their arrival so precisely that chicks hatch exactly when plants peak nutritionally—delays of days mean starvation.

Nature

What do Hawaiian bobtail squid hatchlings do shortly after hatching to obtain their own source of glowing light?

Glowing squid hatchlings deliberately eat bioluminescent bacteria and farm them in pouches, essentially raising a light-producing pet inside their own body.

Nature

How many times must a Venus flytrap's trigger hairs be touched before the trap snaps shut?

Venus flytraps count prey touches: one triggers reflex, but trap only closes after two touches within 20 seconds—preventing false alarms.