Camouflage or communication: How birds use odor
What senses do birds use? Obviously, they use hearing and sight—after all, they sing and often have colorful plumage. But what about the sense of smell? For a long time, it was thought that olfaction played no role in birds. In recent years, however, a number of papers have emerged that refute this assumption—including research that looks at the secretion from the preen gland that birds smear on their feathers several times a day. Scientists, including some from Bielefeld University, have investigated what changes there might be in the composition of the secretion and what role smell plays in this. Their study was published on 6 February in the journal Biological Reviews.