Their fitness to fly is undisputed, but what about the sensory organs of birds? Can birds smell? Do birds have ears? And how do birds see?
The art of flying puts birds on a special pedestal when it comes to physical ability. Only a few representatives from other animal groups share this gift. Songbirds also have lovely bird calls and light up their surroundings with their colorful splendor. So what other talents can they have? Can birds smell? How well can they hear and how do they perceive the world around them? We would like to answer these exciting questions in our information article.
Can birds smell?
In fact, the sense of smell in birds is rarely strong. Birds can smell, but usually not very well. The sense of smell is used, for example, when looking for a partner, recognizing prey and enemies or for orientation, but in all these areas it only plays a subordinate role alongside sight and hearing. An exception are vultures, which in search of carrion - their favorite food - are strongly guided by their sense of smell, which is more developed in them than in most other bird species.
Can birds hear?
With the beautiful concerts songbirds give in the morning, it would be a shame if they couldn't hear them for themselves. And that's why the answer applies here too: Yes, birds can hear. The bird calls are not there for our pleasure, but are intended to send specific signals to conspecifics or other bird species. Male birds, for example, mark out a territory with their magnificent song and woo a mate in it.
Note: For more information on bird song and the benefits of other bird calls, see our special article on Why Do Birds Chirp?.
However, how birds hear is a little more difficult to understand because, unlike humans, dogs and many other animals, they do not have obvious, protruding ears. Not even the long-eared owl, whose appearance gives it its English name"Long-eared owl" makes it easy for us, because the protruding tufts of feathers on her head are purely decorative and not suitable for hearing.
To prove that birds have ears, you have to look very closely. These are located on the sides of the animals' heads and consist only of small openings, which are usually surrounded by a tuft of feathers and can hardly be seen without a close examination of the animal.
Can birds see colors?
The sense of sight is probably the most important sense of birds, because this ability is essential for orientation during flight, for searching for food or for finding a partner. Birds of prey, such as kestrels or common buzzards, can still see small prey, such as field mice, darting through the field several hundred meters away, which is difficult for a person even with binoculars.
Birds are also way ahead of us when it comes to color vision, because in addition to the classic color receptors for red, blue and green that we humans have, birds have another receptor for violet, with which they can even detect UV light can perceive. This means that the world appears even more colorful to birds than it does to us. In addition to the four color receptors, birds also have another receptor that specifically helps them detect movement, allowing them to react quickly to danger or moving prey.
Birds can smell, hear and even see colors - but when do these senses rest? Find out where birds sleep and how they protect themselves from danger and the cold of winter in our special article.