  Theoretical studies indicating the presence of long-lived coherence in the
radical pair system have engendered questions about the utilitarian role of
sustained coherence in the avian compass. In this manuscript, we investigate
this for a realistic multi-nuclear radical pair system, along with the related
question of its sensitivity to the geomagnetic field. Firstly, we find that
sustenance of long-lived coherence is unlikely in a realistic hyperfine
environment. Secondly, probing the role of the hyperfine interactions on the
compass sensitivity, we establish the hyperfine anisotropy as an essential
parameter for the sensitivity. Thereby, we are able to identify a parameter
regime where the compass would exhibit sensitivity even without sustained
coherence.
