How birds get by without external ears

Date:

December 11, 2014

Source:

Technische Universitaet Muenchen

Summary:

Unlike mammals, birds have no external ears. The outer ears have an important function: they help the animal identify sounds coming from different elevations. But birds are also able to perceive whether the source of a sound is above them, below them, or at the same level. Now a research team has discovered that birds are able to localize these sounds by utilizing their entire head.

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