How do animals find their way home?

Animals find home by using clues their bodies and brains can read: sunlight, smells, landmarks, stars, and Earth's magnetic field. Different species rely on different clues, and many use more than one, checking the world around them the way a child checks familiar corners on the walk home.

A salmon can return to its birthplace by recognizing the chemistry of its stream, while some birds steer with a sense for magnetism we cannot feel. Bees can work out direction from sunlight, and pigeons remember roads, rivers, and roofs from above.