Ignored chores in the MMP

[kayT]

@JaneDoe42

So, we have goldfinches hanging around and I put some thistle in a small tube feeder for them. They liked it until the sparrows and wrens found out about it and kept running the gold finches off. I bought a finch sock, which is mesh tube that is closed on one end and has drawstrings on the other. I filled it with thistle and hung it up and the goldfinches were all over it right away.

This thing is pretty opaque and doesn’t look like anything in nature. I’ve also never seen one in any of the neighbor’s yards. So…how the heck did the goldfinches figure them out so fast

This made me curious so I gave Mr Google a try and found this in Science Daily here:

Sight and hearing are the most important senses for birds – this is at least the received wisdom. By studying bird DNA, however, researchers have now provided genetic evidence that many bird species have a well-developed sense of smell.