Olfaction and parental behavior in ring dove

In the ring dove, several sensory cues emanating from the squab (young) have been shown to be important in maintaining parental care. However, no information exists on the role of olfaction in parental behavior. In the experiments described, the body odor of squabs was artificially altered by application of a fruit-scented substance to its back. This resulted in high mortality of treated squabs by day 7 post-hatching. The body weights of the fruit-scented squabs that died were lower than those of living controls, suggesting that some change in parental feeding had occurred. Behavioral observations also indicated qualitative differences in parental care towards fruit-scented vs control young. Toxicity was ruled out as a cause of squab death since subcutaneous injection of the fruit substance to squabs led to 100% squab survival. High squab mortality following fruit-scent treatment could be prevented by bilateral olfactory nerve cuts in the parents. Taken together, these data suggest that olfactory cues may play a role in parental care in ring doves, and add support to the notion that olfactory cues can influence avian behavior.