# Do birds smell and taste?

The other day we bought a coconut shell bird feeder. Like this


After hanging it out on the balcony, kids became worried that birds won't come because they do not know how to find it. So we made a bet that in at most 3 days we'll see many birds coming. Well, it took only a couple of hours to welcome the first tits and then crows too.

But this exercise brought an interesting question: _How do birds find the food we offered them? _Can birds smell?_

A bit googling reveals that this is quite interesting stuff in its own right. For a long time people did not think birds can smell. After all, it however turns out that indeed, they have a relatively well developed sense of smell: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080716111421.htm.

> Sight and hearing are the most important senses for birds -- this is at least the received wisdom. By studying bird DNA, however, researchers have now provided genetic evidence that many bird species have a well-developed sense of smell.

But what about taste? Can birds taste? That turns out to be more involved. Some people run their own anecdotal experiments (e.g., https://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/birding-basics/can-birds-smell-taste/) and birds apparently have taste preferences, yet seem to be oblivious to strong tastes like cayenne pepper. Yet, hummingbirds are known to be very picky about nectar - they go for sweetness. So how is it?

It turns out, some birds (chicken, hummingbirds) have good taste receptors: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140821141449.htm.

> Hummingbirds' ability to detect sweetness evolved from an ancestral savory taste receptor that is mostly tuned to flavors in amino acids.

Some other, like penguins, however, are taste disasters, they don't care: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150216131109.htm

> Penguins apparently can't enjoy or even detect the savory taste of the fish they eat or the sweet taste of fruit.