Birds can create their own fragrant fragrance to attract their partners

Getting to know new friends or dating in the animal world is certainly more difficult than us.

Not only do people know how to use fragrance or perfume to highlight themselves. But there is a bird that can emit a fragrance to impress female birds.

Getting to know new friends or dating in the animal world is certainly more difficult than us.

Since they do not have friends, they cannot get to know each other if they are very far away. However, aukets belonging to the Shumagin Islands, Alaska have a rather unique trait that can attract the attention of other birds although not close.

Picture 1 of Birds can create their own fragrant fragrance to attract their partners

Birds aukets.

That's the ability to smell like citrus peels from their own bodies, especially male birds.

A few years ago, no one dared to be sure whether the bird had a sense of smell. Regardless, how will they use it?

However, auklets have shown that they not only have an olfactory function, but males also use an effective way to attract their mate.

On a boat trip to Big Koniuji Island, the biologist Hector Douglas suddenly smelled in the air that smelled like a tangerine shell.

He lifted his head and saw a flock of birds auklets nearby."Their citrus smell is extremely strong," he said. "They are the strongest smelling bird I know."

Picture 2 of Birds can create their own fragrant fragrance to attract their partners

This bird has the ability to smell like citrus peels.

Later, Douglas and his colleagues began to study the bird.

They captured dozens of birds and put each one in each cage to quantify their scent strength.

The team found that the fragrance was secreted through the male's neck hair, creating an aldehyde compound.

This compound is often found in citrus fruits and is also used to produce perfumes.

Picture 3 of Birds can create their own fragrant fragrance to attract their partners

This aroma is secreted through the neck hair of males.

At the same time, research on behavioral ecology has revealed that this is the species with the strongest aroma. It is the birds that aukets also seem to be unable to resist this scent.

The aroma acts as a physical indicator of auklets to see if it is appropriate to be a mate. Moreover, this fragrance also slows down or paralyzes blood-sucking species such as lice, mosquitoes or ticks that help birds auklets protect themselves.

Update 16 December 2018
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