Symposium number: 02

Title: NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE SENSE OF SMELL IN BIRDS: FROM FORAGING BEHAVIOUR TO INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION

Principal organizer: Francesco Bonadonna
Behavioural Ecology Group, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, 1919 route de Mende, F-34293, Montpellier, Cedex 5, France
email: francesco.bonadonna@cefe.cnrs.fr

Second organizer: Gabrielle Nevitt
Center for Animal Behavior, Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, 95616, USA

First keynote speaker: Bernice M. Wenzel
David Geffen School of Medicine, Dept. of Physiology, Univerity of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1751, USA
Title of first keynote paper: Avian olfaction: Then and now

Second keynote speaker: Gabrielle Nevitt
Center for Animal Behavior, Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davies, Davis, California, 95616, USA
Title of second keynote paper: The odor world of sub-antarctic procellariiform seabirds

Contributed talks

Symposium description: The notion that birds are anosmic is deeply rooted among scientists and laymen alike. Growing evidence, nevertheless, suggests that the sense of smell is of fundamental importance among birds. Interest in avian olfaction has emerged from studies conducted in unrelated laboratories on different bird orders, including columbiform pigeons (homing orientation) and procellariiform seabirds (large olfactory bulbs highly responsive to odors in foraging). Such research has extended to species long considered almost or completely anosmic, such as blue tits and parrots which have relatively small olfactory bulbs. Increasing research effort is providing new insights into the importance of olfaction in a variety of behaviours, even in social behaviour and individual recognition.
The purpose of this symposium is to highlight new work in this area by exploring the sensory biology and ecology of olfaction in a wide variety of species. The work highlighted draws on a phylogenetically wide range of taxa and explores this fascinating sense in a variety of disciplines, including foraging ecology, social behaviour and neuro-ethology.

back to list of symposia

Home | Scientific Programme | Officers | Venue | Accommodation | Tours | Past Congresses