Pigeons use unexpected super sense to find home

But instead of finding the way using street signs or landmarks, you instead follow the scent of the honeysuckle flowers on your neighbor’s fence, make a turn at the aroma of a bakery 5 blocks away, and cross the street at that one alley that always smells like weed.

Homing pigeons have such an amazing sense of direction that if you transplanted a homing pigeon hundreds of miles, it can find its nest again.

Scientists had always suspected these pigeons' superb sense of direction depends on their olfactory senses, not eyesight, to navigate.

But they were missing a piece of the puzzle — what odors direct these birds home? A new paper published in Scientific Reports may have the answer.

They also measured pungent molecule from the ocean called dimethylsulfide…

And a "chemical"-smelling molecule, trimethylbenzene, which emanated from nearby urban areas.

The researchers also measured how wind and distance from the pigeons’ nests affected the concentration of these smelly molecules.

They then created a smell-map, showing how the pigeons may use this sense to navigate the area.

The research helps scientists better understand the innovative way pigeons -- and perhaps other birds -- navigate their surroundings.