Why don’t birds have ears?

Birdsong is not just a karaoke hobby. it’s your own communication method and can range from a territory marking strategy to a method of attracting mating partners. Be that as it may, it is clear that they must have good hearing. Singing would do them no good if there were no other birds to listen to. However, if we look at them, it seems that they don’t have ears. A little owls yes, but in general most birds seem to lack them. What is it about?

Well, the truth is that, as you might expect, ears. No ears is not the same as no ears. Birds have auditory system open to the outside. In fact, if we look at some birds, we can see it, although it doesn’t look like typical mammalian ears.

The point is that for various reasons auditory pavilion It will bring them nothing but trouble. What’s more, even owls don’t have ears. What we often confuse with them are feather feathers, which have nothing to do with hearing. But then a new question arises: how do birds hear?

History of bird ears.

Ears, also known as auricle or auriclecompose only the visible part of the ear. In animals that have them, they help channel sound vibrations to optimize hearing.

They are, of course, very useful, but they can also have certain disadvantages. For example, they are a large opening to the outside, which makes it easier for foreign bodies to enter or infections. In the case of humans, for example, we have defense systems such as wax. But not all animals have it. Therefore, if this does not give them wonderful advantages, they can develop without ears.

As for the ears, they are usually connected externally through small holes located on the sides of the head and covered with feathers to prevent foreign bodies from entering. They are known as ear canal and they are connected to the eardrum, which pushes back and forth when sound waves hit it.

every bird is a whole world

All these features are on a common level. However, each bird has its own characteristics when it comes to hearing. For example, it was noticed that water birdswhich must dive in search of food show, among other changes, a decrease in the areas of entry into the tympanic membrane.

On the other hand, it has been observed that paleognathic birds such as ostriches or emus, they have a larger and more unprotected ear opening. Also, muscles are not attached to these holes, as in other birds.

As for the alleged owl ears, not everyone has them. These false ears are only found in birds. Floor Asiaknown as long-eared owls. Have feathers from feathers standing on the sides of the head, but these are not ears.

Like other birds, just because they don’t have ears doesn’t mean they have poor hearing. Actually like Asia or not, owls have very keen hearing. This is possible thanks to the concave shape of its head, which acts as a kind of satellite dish and brings sound to the ears.

Also, some have holes in their asymmetrical ears. For example, those from a family strigidae they have one higher than the other so they can figure out how high the sounds they detect are. The same goes for having one on each side of the head. People know whether a sound is coming from one side or the other, depending on which ear picks it up first. Owls go further and can indicate height.

So no, birds don’t have ears, but that doesn’t matter. Many of them hear a thousand times better than you and me.