Ask a Naturalist: Do owls have a great sense of smell?

nLearn

n

 Photo Credit: California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW)

n

Question: Do owls have a great sense of smell?

nn

Answer: They don't!

n

In fact owls don’t have much of a sense of smell at all! Unlike vultures owls are a type of raptor that do not rely on scent to hunt. Instead they use their keen sense of hearing and vision to find their prey. While some animals like coyotes use their incredible sense of smell for a variety of reasons such as finding food and detecting scents left by other coyotes owls don’t have a need for this type of information. 

n

Owls also lack a sense of taste which is generally closely related to an animal’s sense of smell. Think about humans in this regard. Without our ability to smell we would not be able to pick up all the flavors of the things we eat! Since owls swallow their food whole without chewing taste (along with smell) is not important to them.

nHaving a lack of smell also allows owls to hunt species that most other animals avoid most notably skunk. While other animals desperate for a meal will prey on skunks large owls (such as the Great Horned Owl) are primary predators of skunks due to the ineffectiveness of the skunk’s defensive foul spray. In some cases being sprayed by a skunk is beneficial to the owl because they now carry that scent that keeps other potential predators away. This along with their flight and incredibly hunting skills allows these large owls to remain at the top of the food chain with very few predators that prey on them! n

Create

Have toilet paper rolls? Check out this tutorial on how to transform them into fun owls!  

For a simpler version click here!