Many animal species detect and avoid predators by smell, but this ability has largely been ignored in the study of birds, since it was traditionally thought that they did not make use of this sense. However, it has now been discovered that birds are not only capable of discerning their enemies through chemical signals, but that they also alter their behaviour depending on the perceived level of risk of predation.
The use of smell to detect chemical signals can be useful for birds in various situations, such as feeding and orientation. However, they can greatly increase their chances of survival if they can tell whether or not the smell they have detected is associated with a predator. Luisa Amo de Paz, the study’s lead author, explained that: “Birds can detect the presence of a predator” thanks to their sense of smell. Working as a biologist at the Spanish National Research Council’s (CSIC) Natural History Museum while the study was carried out, Ms. Amo de Paz is currently working for the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW).
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