Can Vultures Smell? Can Birds Smell?

Whether it is due to global warming or as a result of increased roadkill, vultures circling overhead are becoming an increasingly common sight. Today I came across a lone Turkey Vulture feeding on a roadkill rabbit (below). Vultures cover a great deal of territory while searching for food, but how are they locating it? This brings about the age old debate of whether birds can actually smell?

Taste buds are poorly developed in birds, and number very few (less than 100) in comparison to humans (10,000), but nearly all birds have developed olfaction, or a sense of smell, though in many species it probably does not play an important role in their daily lives. Most birds rely upon sight as their primary sense, yet olfaction plays a minor role in raptors, as they have been observed discarding tainted meat.

While all birds can smell and use odors to a degree, the size of the olfactory lobes in the brain may dictate to what extent. The larger it is in relation to the size of the brain, the better the chances are that a species relies upon smell to detect their food. It is well developed in nocturnal birds such as kiwis and oilbirds, as well as emus, honeyguides, geese, the tube-noses (shearwaters, fulmars, storm-petrels, albatrosses), and the Turkey Vulture. This is not the case with the more aggressive Black Vulture which relies heavily upon sight and tends to follow the Turkey Vulture to food!

The word Vulture means a tearer in Latin for its habit of ripping apart carcasses. The scientific name for Turkey Vulture is Cathartes aura, and comes from the Greek meaning purifer or cleanser, for its ability to scavenge. Aura is the Central American Indian name for this bird. Though closely related, the Black Vulture Coragyps atratus belongs to a different genus. Coragyps comes from two Greek words, korax meaning a raven and gyps a vulture, in reference to its overall black plumage. The species name atratus is Latin for ‘clothed in black’, again referencing its color.