smell or no-smell

[nofly]

my question: can birds smell (perceive odors, not meant they might bath a bit more)?
when yes, how good they can?

someone said to me a new birdbox (?) (for nesting) would not be accepted as long as the paint of it is fresh and smelling...
i do doubt this (but recognise inhaling paint vapors will not be good for bird and youngsters)

who does have info?

thanks

[valleyforge]

Hi nofly and welcome to the WAB forum.

It's a good question ... and one no doubt that will bring you a variety of answers and opinions.

In my own experience with birds that are likely to use garden nestboxes, my response would be that yes they do have a sense of smell, though it's not as highly developed as in some larger bird species, or indeed almost all small mammals.

However the smell of the paint is much less important than any harmful fumes that might be emitted by an oil-based paint or other such wood preservative, so they are best avoided, and a low-odour, water based preservative used instead ... a semi-permeable, 'breathable' coating is much preferable too for nest boxes, which are best treated only on exterior surfaces and not the nest chamber itself.

The organs within birds, that equate to our lungs, are naturally quite small and delicate, and some fumes can be damaging.

If you do need to use a painted nestox, it should be OK provided it has been aired for sufficient time for any paint fumes to have fully dispersed ... that might take a couple of weeks though, to be absolutely safe.

[shaun a]

Birds can actually smell things but the odur has to be strong,so paint would or could be smelt

[nofly]

thank you for the extensive answer! great!!

Originally Posted by valleyforge

Hi nofly and welcome to the WAB forum.

thank you, i was here but am not a steady guest ;-)

yes they do have a sense of smell, though it's not as highly developed

any harmful fumes that might be emitted by an oil-based paint or other such wood preservative, so they are best avoided, and a low-odour, water based preservative used instead ...

not only wood preservatives or paints, but even the wood itself might be a source of poisonous gases...
i remember a topic came up last year (?) on a house rabbit forum (forums) about toxic gases emitted by certain types (tree-type) of wood shavings (used as a bedding for house rabbits). as a result veterinairians were warning for using these.
iirc the woods were 'needle tree' wood (the types that will be used making nestboxes too).

[RoyW]

In general the advice given for nest boxes is not to use any paint or preservative (and definitely not inside the box or around the hole).

As far as the sense of smell that birds have goes, it is generally considered that most birds have an extremely poorly developed sense of smell. There is considerable evidence that the sense of smell is more highly developed in some groups though, and these have been shown to have a much more highly developed olfactory centre in the brain (examples include petrels & shearwaters and Kiwi's - you don't get many of the latter in Britain though!).
There is also apparently some evidence that knowing the smells around their home areas may help pigeons to find their way home.