section_path: Nonhuman animal sensation and perception/Non-human analogues/Magnetoception
section_name: Magnetoception
paragraph_text: Magnetoception
  
  Magnetoception (or magnetoreception) is the ability to detect the direction one is facing based on the Earth's magnetic field. Directional awareness is most commonly observed in birds, which rely on their magnetic sense to navigate during migration. It has also been observed in insects such as bees. Cattle make use of magnetoception to align themselves in a north–south direction. Magnetotactic bacteria build miniature magnets inside themselves and use them to determine their orientation relative to the Earth's magnetic field. There has been some recent (tentative) research suggesting that the Rhodopsin in the human eye, which responds particularly well to blue light, can facilitate magnetoception in humans.