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Index of Subjects Thanks Randy, I thought you would know! Of course I meant nostrils! Randy Lauff wrote: > Yup. > > Noses are used for two things, well, two major things...breathing and smelling. > > In general, it is thought that birds don't have a good sense of smell, > though I seem to recall some work with vultures that indicated that > their sense of smell is better than most birds. > > Birds in general keep their beaks shut except when vocalizing or > feeding/drinking. Most air going to their lungs goes through their > nostrils. Now some birds like gannets have no nostrils (this is > advantageous to divers, especially plummet divers). Winter air > entering the bird for breathing must be warmed to above freezing prior > to it getting to the lungs (which are so thin and wet that they would > freeze almost instantaneously were this not to happen). In mammals, > and I presume birds, this happens in the "nose". > > If you define the nose more liberally, then the beak is definitely > made up of the nose, in part. And the beak is used for feeeding, > drinking, display, defense, preening, and likely a few more tasks that > I'm just not thinking of off the top of my head. > > Randy > > On 05/04/2009, Annabelle Thiebaux <hamst@xplornet.com> wrote: >> DO BIRDS HAVE NOSES? >> > >
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