Olfactory recognition

[Diane]

http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/ ... .1093.full" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MadHatter]

I guess we're going to have to re-evaluate the common perception that, some notable exceptions aside, birds generally have little or no sense of smell.

[natamambo]

You saying my birds smell?

[MadHatter]

Yes.
But it's OK 'cos they smell better than we thought.

[Diane]

Well it might make sense of how a youngster will only beg to a parent even though there are lots of birds of the same colouring as their parents in the same aviary. Also why some birds desert the nest if we have been looking/touching.

[GregH]

What's missing is the next level - Breeding. The fostered birds preferred to spend time near their genetic home rather than their fostered home. If this is the case then the potential mates encountered are likely to be siblings unless some other mechanism comes into play with mate choice and then there's reproductive success. These wouldn't be a difficult experiments to set up - unless you had one of those nasty local councils that won't let you have more than 10 of any one species or more than 20 birds in total.

[desertbirds]

I guess we're going to have to re-evaluate the common perception that, some notable exceptions aside, birds generally have little or no sense of smell.

I had noticed years ago that Pictorellas that had never seen termites took to them instantly. I mean they hadnt even seen me enter the cage with termites let alone know what they are. Before i had made it back to the door they were ploughing into them. I thought then it may be smell they are using.I had also wondered why when feeding out lebanese cucumber, the odd batch i bought although they looked identical were completely ignored. I wondered if they hadnt been treated for longer life or sprayed while growing.

[finchbreeder]

"potential mates encountered are likely to be siblings"
I wonder about this too. Try breeding 3 or 4 pairs of anything in an avairy and dont remove any of the resultant young. Just ring each nest full with different coloured rings and observe. I bet as many will pick siblings for mates as don't. But feel free to prove me wrong.
LML