Ask Mike: Do birds have ears?
Hey Guys,
The other day I noticed something that I’m embarrassed to say I never noticed before. Birds don’t have ears. Interesting, I thought to myself. But hold the phone–if birds don’t have ears, why do they chirp all the live-long day? Things weren’t adding up…
I was relieved to see that I wasn’t the first person to admit ignorance regarding bird ears–there are indeed a slew of related questions within Yahoo! Answers. I did a general web search and found several sites that explain how birds hear.
Backyard Nature hosts an excellent article on the subject. The truth is that birds do have ears, they’re just not very easy to locate (owls excepted). Bird ears are covered with feathers. Once those feathers are spread apart, you can see that the ear hole is nearly as large as the bird’s eye. The author speculates that feathers cover the ears to drown out wind noise.
So, mystery solved–birds have ears. But that brings up another aviary question–how can birds perch on power lines and not get electrocuted? Enchanted Learning explains that for a bird to be electrocuted, a “potential difference must exist across two points of the bird’s body (its feet in the case of a bird on a power line).” Because both of the bird’s feet are on one power line, the bird is safe. However, if the bird were to touch two power lines at once, it would get quite a shock. This is often a danger for bigger birds with wider wingspans and squirrels with poor depth perception.
Thanks for reading,
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Of course they have ears. They just don’t have EXTERNAL ears like we do. All you have to do is look at a bird’s skull to see the openings for the ears, and they’re sometimes evident even with the feathers present.
if birds didnt have ea good point.rs there would not be much point in their singing ,chirping ect, but a good point.
in evolutionary terms, birds have never needed their hearing either to find prey or elude predators, therefor they never developed external “cones” to direct their hearing or aid in amplification… but they have ears… and they can hhear
Yes they have ears, just not like ours. My Macaw loves to have her ears rubbed. For streamlining they just have feather covered holes.
the ears are located on the side of the head. they are holes basically, except most of the time they are hidden by feathers so you can’t see them. i should know, i own and raise 13 birds.
they do have ears i have a pet bird that has ears that are just hiding in their feathers
Seriously? Are you serious? That’s like the time my uncle asked “What?! Birds have ears??!” When I mentioned my sun conure liked having his ears rubbed.
Yes birds have ears, but like a seal’s ears, they are internal, NOT external. Anyone who knows anything about birds could have told you that.
Why are bird ears so inconspicuous. One reason becomes clear if you’ve ever tried to carry on a conversation on a windy day, with wind thundering around your ears. Since wind constantly streams around flying birds, if they had floppy ears like we do they’d hear a lot of ear-thunder. Not having ear-flaps is just the price birds pay for being able to hear well as they fly.
Most birds have their ear holes covered with tiny feathers specially designed to cut down on wind noise while permitting sound waves to pass through. These feathers behave like the foam covers you see on politicians’ microphones at outdoor rallies, where breezes cause uncovered mikes to thump. Some diving birds, such as penguins, have strong feathers covering their ear-holes, to protect delicate inner ears from intense water pressure.
Some birds even locate food with their ears. The Common Barn-owl can catch a mouse in total darkness, as the mouse scampers across a floor.
…Are you serious? Please tell me this isn’t new to a lot of people. You can almost see them.They’re not THAT hidden >_>
Yes birds have ears, sort of. They aren’t external like ours. they are more like holes where there ears are missing! lol
Don’t worry, just came to the realization, recently like 2 months ago, that “daddy birds” don’t “sprinkle the eggs to fertilize them! lolol! Yes I know ridiculous I know. I just never stopped t think that birds actually get it on. I have no clue what I’ve been thinking all these years. haha, silly me. I think my mistake is much more embarrassing, and sad, than yours.
you’re a bit of a bird brain mike if you were expecting them to have ear lobes like us
off course they have ears, i mean why would they sing to attract mates and why would there be bird calls if they didn’t have a way to hear them.
I don’t think they have ears, I don’t see any.
i have a cockatiel and he has a big hole in his head, covered with feathers.
I guess you can learn something new every day.
yes birds have ears, they just are hidden
)
Yeah Man: Great information
I just learned today that only two mammals in the world lay eggs. The platypus and the Echidna. The Echidna is a relative to the hedgehog, but hedgehog do not lays eggs.
Birds don’t have ears. They have to lip-read what the other birds are saying.
I thought it was obvious that they HAVE ears…you can talk to a parrot and teach it to talk even…in my opinion that was the best example…
Well then why do birds cheap untill they find another bird they have to have ears to hear other birds
People who make fun of other people
are behaving ignorantly. Don’t even try to tell anyone that you’ve never done or asked anything stupid yourself.
Thanks for the information. I did know that birds have ears but I did not know about birds/electrocution info.
i noticed this too but only when I had birds. -.-; Then one day as the bird got wet i noticed HUGE holes in it’s head and I freaked out, checked it immediately and realized it was ear hole shaped. But looking back I think that was a stupid assumption to think birds don’t have ears.. because: how are they able to perfectly copy one’s whistling, or talk or answer questions? =]
Very interesting fact this. All animals that have visible ears have live babies all animals that have hidden ears lay eggs….. Think about it
Birds do have ears. how can a parrot talk without listening it’s common sense
If birds didn’t have ears, then how would they be able to pick up what you’re whistling, determine how to whistle it, and then not only copy it but also “mix their own tunes” like my cockatiel does, all in one day? I’m sure they’re not telepathic…
Birds do get electrocuted, from the same wire sometimes. Example; if a birds leg are spread far enough apart, the electrical potential becomes enough of an IR/potential drop to cause electrocution. So birds do sometimes get electrocuted standing on the same wire.
Haha
)
Of course, birds do have ears. How can they hear sounds and be able to detect someone coming nearer to them if they dont have one?
But at least, you admitted something ( truth ) and Im proud of you. But dont expect that they have ear lobes like us human
Well when i shoot my gun at them they fly away!
You thought birds didn’t have ears?!
Makes me wonder what they teach kids in school these days. Yes, birds would certainly sing to defend their territories and to attract mates if they couldn’t hear it?
It’s an excellent question though. For a 5 year old.
I truly enjoyed your blog. I’ve never questioned if birds ever had ears or not, honestly, I just never thought about it, but I was always interested as to why they don’t get electrocuted when on power lines and you’ve answered a good questions. So, thanks. I can honestly say I learned something new today.
About owls ears being easy to find, those tufts on the tops of their head are not ears, just feathers. The ears are on the sides of their heads behind the eyes, and one ear is higher than the other.
Not to sound like a know-it-all jerk, just wanted to tell you cause I just learned all of this at my son’s school’s open house the other day
I’ve always known that birds have ears. I used to have lots of birds as a child, and I’d blow on their feathers on the sides of their heads so I could see the pink, naked ear holes. Looks a bit weird.
of course they have ears they just are totalley conected to there body and sometimes very hard to see they are technicaly little wholes in there body but feathers (if there long) they can cover the wholes so you think birds have no ears
“all you have to do is look at a bird’s skull” …because so many people frequently look at bird skulls. oh, do birds have ears? I don’t know, let me check my handy dandy bird skull I keep in my back pocket.
I’ve never looked up close at a bird. Of course, I assumed they had ears and I was right about the form they take, but why is everyone acting as if everyone else has this unlimited up close access to birds, living and dead?
birds have holes in their skulls so they can hear, but they don’t actually have ears. they chirp all day to talk to one another, just like us humans talk in whichever language we use, birds have their own language.
Birds can also scream… very blood curdling, i wouldn’t recommend it.
Hey, birds do have ears but their ears are so small that you cant see them. Plus they have feathers on their heads and over their ears so you cant see them that way either. Mike, your a bit of a bird brain.
Do you see ears coming out the side of its noggin, OF COARSE THEY DONT HAVE EARS.
Of course birds have ears. The Great Gray Owl is known to hunt using sound. Their feathers (around their heads) form the ear cones that concentrate the sounds they hear. The shape of the cone can be altered to focus in on their prey (using their great sense of hearing).
Yes of course they have ears??? You just can’t see them. I have a bird, and when I give her a bath, you can see the holes on the sides of her face.
YEAH BIRDS HAVE EARS THEY ARE HIDDEN SO U WANT SEE THEM L.O.L
Whenever we judge someone to be bird brain. Check again, because we might be judging ourselves. We oftentimes ignore little things, specially those unimportant ones. Admit it peopIe. We may be smarter than others and some are smarter than us. I myself didn’t pay much attentions to birds. Though i have seen my lolo when plucking a chicken. Chicken have ears. Chicken and birds are of same family. So i guess they do have ears.
you know the way a bird finds a mate?
HE SINGS!
then a bird hears it, repeats it, bada-boom, bada-bing, they’re in love.
now how can a bird repeat it if he can’t hear it.
they can’t see each other so they can’t lip-read when they’re mating so that means the only other option is that they hear it.
KAPISH!
I thought this was too cute! Everyday I have students who bring “facts: did you know?” to class and lately, they have been racing to get the chance to put a Did you know fact on the board. Wait until I ask them this one!!! I am sure we will have plenty of hoots and hollars. Thanks questioner. You’ve made my day.
YES THEY DO
Our lovebird not only has ears, he can hear a lark belch in Florida all the way from Canada. He’s got excellent hearing.
Next time your pet bird has a bath or shower, and if his/her head gets wet, have a look — you will probably be able to see the ear holes through the wet feathers.
holes as ears but hidden by their feathers
I thought that birds didnt get electrocuted because the wires are covered in rummer like any other wire? i dont understand…. is this not the case?
actually everyone knows the part with electricity my mom told me that when i was like 6…
Jimeoin makes the observation that they don’t have eyebrows either. He suggests that it could be socially limiting for them in certain ways.
Interesting question because birds evolved from dinosaurs and you never see a dinosaur with cocker spaniel ears, do you? But both the dinos and the birds have auditory organs comewhere.
I USED TO THINK THE SAME THING! That is until I got birds (started with 3, ended up with 15. Reproduction…go figure)
So then I noticed that when they itched the sides of their head, the fur would fly up and LOW AND BEHOLD there was a tiny little ear.
Yea, how do you think they hear me creeping up on them???
All birds have ears but not all birds have wings – you could have asked mummy.
no comment … >_>
berds dont have ears the hav holes in the sids of ther head
NO! ALL LIES! THEY DONT!!!! DONT LISTEN TO EVERYONE!!!
dude corse birds have ears how else would they listen? They just look difrent, their tiny feather covered holes on the side of theire head.
Im guesing the chirping is theire way of communication, doesnt everyone talk all day?especially when theres people around?
YAY!!! NOW I FINALLY KNOW!!!!! *dances like a dumbass* I ALWAYS WONDERED HOW THE HELL BIRDS COULD HEAR A-ND JUMP ON POWERLINES ALL THE GOD DAMN DAY!!! HAHAHA FINALLY!!! HAHAHAHA!!! YAY!!!! *jumps around* WOOT!!! *trips on a feather and falls on ma face* … damn birds… TT__TT
lolz wow birds do have ears they r just little holes in their head
It was wonderful reading your blog full of information.
full of facts rather.Kudos to the nature lover
yeah they have ears, just can’t see them
Hey Mike!…If i send you a pic of my wild bird, would you be able to tell me whether she is a Dove or a Pigeon? And possibly what species? If not, would you possibly know who can help me? Thanks and Happy Holidays!!!
R we talkin birds like larry bird; have ears; of course birds have ears. The question is do snakes have ears?