Welcome to You Ask Andy

Anne Fleischman, age 10, of St. Louis, Missouri, for her question:

Do birds have good hearing?

Those pussycat tufts on an owl are just feathery decorations. No bird has visible outer ears    but they have very keen hearing. What's more, they know what many different sounds mean. Actually, your outer ears merely guide sounds inside your skull to your inner ears    and they do the real hearing work. Birds have very keen inner ears. Instead of outer ears, there are tiny doorways lightly covered with skin and soft feathers.

The busy birds are arriving with the warm winds of early spring. Already we hear them bustling and fluttering around, chirping and chattering. Soon the woods and meadows, the parks and waysides will resound with their musical orchestras. Every sweet note and tuneful phrase is heard    and understood    by many members of the bird world.

Most bird sounds have definite meanings and their relatives get the message. Naturalists have decoded certain bird calls that mean: "Beware, danger is near!" "Stay off my property!" "Here's some food!" "hJhere are you?" "I am here!" Bird relatives hear and understand this chatty conversation. Sometimes their messages get through to non relatives also.

For example, one day a sassy crow saw his arch enemy, the owl, dozing in a dead tree. The crow had a fit of panic and almost fell out of the sky. But just in time the smart fellow remembered how to put in a call for help. He landed in a tree and uttered shrieks that sounded loud and long enough to crack his windpipe. Help began to arrive in about a minute.

His raucous SOS meant "Help! Here is an owl or a dangerous hawk!" A few kinfolk heard it in the nearby woods and arrived early. Others heard it from farther away  ¬and in five minutes the air was crowded with crows. The rescue squad dived and screamed down from the sky. The poor old owl woke up to a shrieking nightmare. He heard the threats, knew what they meant, and hastily flew off to hide himself in a silo.

One night a Canada goose took a wrong turn and soon his migrating kinfolk were miles away. But his keen ears heard their voices and the sounds guided him safely back  to his flock. Naturalists report countless stories to prove that birds have very keen ears indeed. Suppose you go outdoors and quietly listen among the springtime greenery. Certainly you will hear a lot of bird chatter. And, chances are, you will find your own proof that the little smarties hear and understand many of the sounds they make.

Sometimes a wise bird decides to keep his mouth shut about what he knows. Suppose a seagull finds a large fish or some other bonanza on the beach. As a rule he lets out a special squawk to invite all the gulls within earshot to the banquet. But suppose he surveys the supplies and decides that there is only enough food for one famished gull. In that case, the cunning character settles down to dine in complete silence.

 

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