More than once I have drawn attention to the fact that among the visitors of our museum of porcelain figurines there are many lovers of compositions that are one way or another related to birds. These people, as a rule, linger at the showcases with birds, looking for a long time at the eagles and pigeons, peacocks and common sparrows, which delight the eye with their incredible perfection.
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I don’t know if bird lovers have had to think about it, but if their pets have ears. I do not know. I myself, for example, could not even guess where these ears could be in birds. After all, it is almost impossible to consider them under plumage.
The answer to this question was given by a detailed report by ornithologists from one of the Norwegian universities. The researchers concluded that birds mainly rely on their acute hearing to, first, detect prey and, second, identify kin based on their songs.
Moreover, it turns out that birds hear much better than people, and therefore are able to distinguish shades of sounds that are inaccessible to the human ear. However, birds lack the external ear anatomy that humans rely on. Then how do birds manage to perceive sounds?
In fact, birds have ears, of course. But their ears are not arranged in the same way as a person’s. Birds and humans have both an inner ear and a middle ear. However, birds differ from humans in that they do not have the structure of the outer ear. Where the human external ear is located, birds only have funnel-shaped openings that function in a similar way. These holes are usually located behind and just below the bird’s eyes. They are protected by soft feathers called auricles.
The position of the bird’s head also plays a role in its hearing abilities. Scientists have determined that noises are registered at different frequencies on each side of the bird’s head. Depending on the angle at which the noise is emitted, it can sound at a certain frequency in the left eardrum and at a completely different frequency in the right eardrum. This difference in frequencies between the eardrums allows the bird to determine the source of the sound.
For example, owls are known for their extremely sharp hearing, which helps them find prey at night. This hearing ability is partly due to the asymmetrical arrangement of the ear holes, where one hole is lower than the other.
Sounds are recorded in these holes at different times! Owls can use this time difference (which is sometimes as little as 30 millionths of a second) to determine whether sounds are coming from their left or right.
Other birds of prey have a kind of “flaps” in front of their ears that help them determine whether sounds are coming from above or below. In some owls, by the way, you can really see “ears on the crown”. Although in fact they are just tufts of feathers, controlled by small muscles under the skin, which do not affect their hearing in any way.
Allow me to wish all today’s birthdays good and happiness. And you, my friends, have a nice day. As always, yours truly.
Oleksandr Shvets