Sense
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.
Magnetometer
Inductive pickup coils (also referred as inductive sensor) measure the magnetization by detecting the current induced in a coil due to the changing magnetic moment of the sample. The sample's magnetization can be changed by applying a small ac magnetic field (or a rapidly changing dc field), as occurs in capacitor-driven pulsed magnets. These measurements require differentiating between the magnetic field produced by the sample and that from the external applied field. Often a special arrangement of cancellation coils is used. For example, half of the pickup coil is wound in one direction, and the other half in the other direction, and the sample is placed in only one half. The external uniform magnetic field is detected by both halves of the coil, and since they are counter-wound, the external magnetic field produces no net signal.