Olfactory Prowess of the Kiwi

Wenzel, Bernice M.

doi:10.1038/2201133a0

Cited by 109 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The domestic hen is a nidifugous bird and because the chicks are not fed directly by the parents there is an elaborate system of innate behavioural patterns which protect the animal from ingesting noxious diets. These innate reflexes are subsequently modified by new experiences allowing the birds to Food intake, and its control by farm animals 315 Olfaction The sense of smell in birds has received very little attention but there is experimental evidence to show that kiwis, petrels and shearwaters can locate their food by smell (Wenzel, 1968;Grubb, 1972). The chicken has a functional olfactory system (Tucker, 1965;Tolhurst & Vince, 1976) and by using operant-conditioning techniques, olfactory thresholds to various hydrocarbons have been determined (Stattelman et al 1975).…”

Section: Food Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory involvement in the control of food intake in poultry

Gentle

1985

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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Section: Food Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory involvement in the control of food intake in poultry

Gentle

1985

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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“…Despite the common belief that birds are feebly equipped to detect odors, several species such as the kiwi (16,17), the vulture, or the homing pigeon (18) are known to use their sense of smell to detect food or to find home. The olfactory system of chicken embryos responds to volatiles already on day 19 of incubation [embryonic day 19 (E19)] when the beak has just entered the air sac and the nares are clear of surrounding tissue (19).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Olfaction: Transient expression of a putative odorant receptor in the avian notochord

Nef

Nef²

1997

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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In vertebrates, odors are thought to be detected by a multigene family encoding several hundreds of seventransmembrane-domain G-protein-coupled receptors found in fish, rat, mouse, dog, and human. Recently, the putative odorant receptor (OR) gene family in the chicken has been characterized. Twelve members have been isolated and subdivided into six subfamilies. Herein, we have further characterized the chicken olfactory receptor subfamily 7 (COR7) composed of two highly related genes (named COR7a and COR7b) which are 98.5% identical. By in situ hybridization experiments, both COR7a and COR7b transcripts were detected in the olfactory epithelium from embryonic day 6 (E6) to the new born stage. Within the olfactory epithelium, the spatial distribution of COR7a and COR7b labeled cells was random. We also observed that every individual positive cell did not coexpress the COR7a and COR7b genes. Interestingly, the COR7b gene was found to be transiently expressed in the notochord from E2 to E6, whereas COR7a or any of the other known members of the COR gene family were not detected in this mesodermal tissue. These data suggest that, in addition to its potential role as an OR in the olfactory system, COR7b may also have a function in the notochord that is essential for the dorsoventral organization of the neural tube and of the somitic mesoderm. We also discuss the possible role(s) of a putative OR present in both the notochord and the sensory olfactory epithelium.

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“…Indeed, to use chemical cues for foraging seems to be an ancestral trait in birds (e.g. Kiwis, Wenzel 1968Wenzel , 1971Cathartes vultures, Gomez et al 1994;Graves 1992;Stager 1964), and it persists in several modern lineages (e.g. zebra finches, Kelly and Marples 2004;chickens Marples and Roper 1996; great tits Amo et al 2013b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence that the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) uses scent to avoid omnivore mammals

Amo

López‐Rull

Pagán

et al. 2015

Rev. Chil. de Hist. Nat.

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Background: The detection of predator chemical cues is an important antipredatory behaviour as it allows an early assessment of predation risk without encountering the predator and therefore increases survival. For instance, since chemical cues are often by-products of metabolism, olfaction may gather information not only on the identity but also about the diet of predators in the vicinity. Knowledge of the role of olfaction in the interactions of birds with their environment, in contexts as important as predator avoidance, is still scarce. We conducted two two-choice experiments to explore 1) whether the house finch Carpodacus mexicanus can detect the chemical cues of a marsupial predatory mammal, the common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), and 2) whether its response to such cues is influenced by the recent diet of this omnivorous predator, as this would increase the accuracy with which the risk of predation is assessed. Results: House finches avoided the area of the apparatus containing the scent of the predator, and this effect did not depend on the recent diet (bait used to lace the traps) of the predator. Conclusions: Our results provide clear evidence that house finches detect and use the chemical cues of predators to assess the level of predation risk of an area and avoid it.

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Olfactory Prowess of the Kiwi

Cited by 109 publications

References 4 publications

Sensory involvement in the control of food intake in poultry

Sensory involvement in the control of food intake in poultry

Olfaction: Transient expression of a putative odorant receptor in the avian notochord

Evidence that the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) uses scent to avoid omnivore mammals

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