Credit: Andrew Dixon
A team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Cardiff University say they have found the strongest evidence yet of a "migration gene" in birds.
The team identified a single gene associated with migration in peregrine falcons by tracking them via satellite technology and combining this with genome sequencing.
They say their findings add further evidence to suggest genetics has a strong role to play in the distance of migration routes.
The study, published today in the journal
Nature, also looks at the predicted effect of climate change on migration - and how this might interact with evolutionary factors.