Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Kiwis are sharpest-smellers among birds, then vultures, and homing pigeons

Chickens have 24 taste buds, catfish 100,000

Matt: I was contemplating my parakeet the other day at the same time my wife was cooking something very aromatic. And it occurred to me, can birds smell? I've never seen Woody sniff his dish of seeds or hold his nose when I open a cat food can, but other animals can smell things, and he has little holes in his beak, so...? — Woody’s Owner, North Park

An especially peculiar question. Just my style. It does make you wonder what Woody’s little nose holes are for if, in fact, he can’t smell cooked cabbage or cigars. I can’t answer with certainty for parakeets, but it’s been shown in laboratory studies that most birds’ olfactory nerves are stimulated by odors. So you might say that technically, they do “smell” things. But it’s an unusual bird that reacts to an odor. In the grand scheme of things, a bird’s senses of smell and taste are relatively unimportant in preserving its life or reproducing its species. Pelicans’ nostrils are completely covered, and their olfactory structures are almost nonexistent, so it would appear that a sense of smell serves virtually no purpose for that species.

Sponsored
Sponsored

But at the other end of the spectrum is the kiwi, the flightless New Zealand bird best known to Americans as the strange, lumpy animal on the shoe polish cans. As far as ornithologists know, the kiwi has the best-developed sense of smell of any bird. It’s a nocturnal feeder that spends its humble life scuffling through piles of leaves and debris in the dark, searching for earthworms. A kiwi’s nostrils are at the tip of its beak (unlike any other bird), and it actually sniffs its way along the ground as it feeds.

Vultures are the second best smellers after kiwis. They’re carrion eaters, and you can imagine that a good nose would help them locate their odoriferous dinners. Scientists seem to think they use smell to get a general sense of where their prospective meal is located, then depend on eyesight to zero in on the carcass. Certain sea birds use smell to locate their nests. And homing pigeons also use smell to orient themselves to where they are, relative to where they want to go. (This was tested by stuffing the pigeons’ nose holes with cotton and then releasing them. All the scientists ended up with was a bunch of very uncomfortable, very confused birds.)

About the only others that use their noses are the African honeyguides. As the name implies, they feed on honey right out of the hive, and one way they find the hive is by smelling the beeswax, not just by hearing or seeing the bees. A honeyguide will just as soon follow its nose to a burning beeswax candle.

A few more patented Matthew Alice facts will give you an idea of how taste probably isn’t a big deal to Woody either. The average chicken has 24 taste buds in its mouth. Woody’s relatives, the parrot family, have about 350. Compare that to man with 9000, rabbits with 17,000, and catfish with (for some unimaginable reason) 100,000. Don’t bother adding gravy to Woody’s dinner. He just won’t care.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Best Sports Betting Sites - 10 Online Sportsbooks Ranked for 2024

Best Sports Betting Sites (2024) - Reviews of TOP Online Sportsbooks

Matt: I was contemplating my parakeet the other day at the same time my wife was cooking something very aromatic. And it occurred to me, can birds smell? I've never seen Woody sniff his dish of seeds or hold his nose when I open a cat food can, but other animals can smell things, and he has little holes in his beak, so...? — Woody’s Owner, North Park

An especially peculiar question. Just my style. It does make you wonder what Woody’s little nose holes are for if, in fact, he can’t smell cooked cabbage or cigars. I can’t answer with certainty for parakeets, but it’s been shown in laboratory studies that most birds’ olfactory nerves are stimulated by odors. So you might say that technically, they do “smell” things. But it’s an unusual bird that reacts to an odor. In the grand scheme of things, a bird’s senses of smell and taste are relatively unimportant in preserving its life or reproducing its species. Pelicans’ nostrils are completely covered, and their olfactory structures are almost nonexistent, so it would appear that a sense of smell serves virtually no purpose for that species.

Sponsored
Sponsored

But at the other end of the spectrum is the kiwi, the flightless New Zealand bird best known to Americans as the strange, lumpy animal on the shoe polish cans. As far as ornithologists know, the kiwi has the best-developed sense of smell of any bird. It’s a nocturnal feeder that spends its humble life scuffling through piles of leaves and debris in the dark, searching for earthworms. A kiwi’s nostrils are at the tip of its beak (unlike any other bird), and it actually sniffs its way along the ground as it feeds.

Vultures are the second best smellers after kiwis. They’re carrion eaters, and you can imagine that a good nose would help them locate their odoriferous dinners. Scientists seem to think they use smell to get a general sense of where their prospective meal is located, then depend on eyesight to zero in on the carcass. Certain sea birds use smell to locate their nests. And homing pigeons also use smell to orient themselves to where they are, relative to where they want to go. (This was tested by stuffing the pigeons’ nose holes with cotton and then releasing them. All the scientists ended up with was a bunch of very uncomfortable, very confused birds.)

About the only others that use their noses are the African honeyguides. As the name implies, they feed on honey right out of the hive, and one way they find the hive is by smelling the beeswax, not just by hearing or seeing the bees. A honeyguide will just as soon follow its nose to a burning beeswax candle.

A few more patented Matthew Alice facts will give you an idea of how taste probably isn’t a big deal to Woody either. The average chicken has 24 taste buds in its mouth. Woody’s relatives, the parrot family, have about 350. Compare that to man with 9000, rabbits with 17,000, and catfish with (for some unimaginable reason) 100,000. Don’t bother adding gravy to Woody’s dinner. He just won’t care.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.