Seabirds can sniff out relatives
A study has been published in the Animal Behaviour journal illustrating the first evidence that birds are able to sniff out a suitable mate. According to scientists they are also able to pick out their relatives from smell alone, preventing the birds from “accidentally inbreeding”.
Francesco Bonadonna, lead researcher from the Centre of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology in Montopellier, France, commented that birds used smell to recognise and communicate their “genetic compatability”. Until recently, scientists believed that birds relied on vision and sound when choosing a partner. According to Dr Bonadonna, the fact that they use odours explains how these birds manage to return to their family colony to breed and avoid mating with a relative.
European storm petrels have been proven to avoid the scent of a relative in favour of approaching the smell of an unrelated bird. European storm petrels remain in the colony they are born in throughout their life, so this site is also home to several of their family members.
"These birds are [also] theoretically faithful to one mate for life," the researcher explained. "So a bad choice may have catastrophic consequences."
He said that smell or "chemical communication" was "the most ancient and simplest form of communication" in the animal kingdom, adding, "it makes sense that the birds would use it".
