We see pigeons all the time
But do pigeons have ears?
I mean have you ever seen an ear on them
Makes you wonder right?
Well, wonder no more because here’s the answer
Pigeons do have ears!
Yep that’s right
But here’s the thing
You can’t actually see them
Why?
Because they are hidden under their feathers
So they are not external
Rather they are hidden
Where exactly on their head is their ears?
Right where you think it is
The side of the head
Pigeon Ears – Interesting Facts
Did you know a pigeons ear is made up of three parts
External Ear
Yes, I did mention they don’t have an external ear
But let me explain,
The ear has a small opening where the ear is located
This opening has a tube which allows sound-waves to be carried to the eardrum which is located in the middle of the ear
This leads me to the next part of their ear
Middle Ear
The middle ear is pretty much the eardrum
Inner Ear
The inner ear is the complicated sensory receptor
This decodes sound and also helps them balance
As you can see, the ear plays a massive role for birds
Just as we depend on our ears to hear things
Pigeons do the same too
Now you may be thinking
Won’t their hearing be slightly affected due to it being covered with feathers
You’d be surprised to know this is not the case
Birds actually have a better hearing sense than us humans
How?
Let me explain
The Head Of The Pigeon
If you see a pigeons head, you’d notice it’s actually round, oval heads
This is actually beneficial to pigeons when they hear
You see, when sound waves hit them
A large percentage of the sound-wave would go into the skull rather than bounce off
Now because of this, a pigeon can identify and measure the sound by using both internal ears
This allows pigeons to know exactly where the sound is coming from by observing the difference in volume in each ear
By knowing exactly where the sound comes from, it could help pigeons navigate long distances
Amazing right?
That’s not all though
Here’s another way how their hearing is better than us humans
The Feathers Covering The Ears
When we think feathers covering the ears
The first thought is, won’t that muffle the sounds entering the ears?
You’re right it actually would
But here’s the thing,
The feathers that cover the ears are different
You see, most feathers on birds are designed in a grid style structure
This helps trap air to make flight easy
But the feathers covering the ears are called auricular feathers
This type of feathers actually have large gaps between the fibers
A bit like how a fan is – it’s spaced out
And this allows sound to pass through to the ears pretty much unobstructed
You can see the difference between the two feather types by clicking here
Can Pigeons Hear Us?
Yes, they can hear us clearly as they have excellent hearing abilities as mentioned in this article
Wrapping Up
Pigeons do have ears
It’s just that we cannot see them as they are hidden under the feathers at the side of the head where ears are usually located
Pigeons can hear better than us because of the shape of their head
Here’s some other related articles about pigeons that you may find interesting