ABSTRACT
Ornithologists rarely consider the role of chemosensory information in avian reproduction. Yet, every bird that has been examined has a functional olfactory system (Bang and Wenzel 1985; Roper 1999). Like other vertebrates, birds detect and respond adaptively to odors in their environment while foraging (e.g. Nevitt et al. 1995, 2004; reviewed in Roper 1999), homing over long and short distances (e.g. Bonadonna and Bretagnolle 2002; Nevitt and Bonadonna 2005a,b; Wallraff 2004, 2005), and perhaps even avoiding predators (Fluck et al. 1996). There is also evidence that some avian species monitor the chemical environment of nests (Petit et al. 2002). However, compared to other organisms, information on the production or social use of self-produced odor compounds in birds has been largely neglected (Roper 1999).
