Re: Do birds have tastebuds?

Yes, birds have the ability to taste different flavors. One important line of indirect evidence is mimicry. This is the ability of a prey animal A to make itself appear like poisonous, or foul-tasting, animal B. While animal A is in most cases not poisonous itself, it uses the colors of animal B to deter birds or other predators from eating it. Birds who have learned that animal B tastes bad will not eat animal A. Thus birds must have taste buds to have the ability to distinguish between good and bad tasting food.

Birds must also have the ability to taste sweet food. Every gardener who owns one or more fruit trees or a grape vine will attest to the destructive power of birds: they can easily eat up a harvest of grapes or cherries just at ripening time, when the fruits are the sweetest, in a matter of a few days. Since I am not a bird expect, I cannot tell you whether they possess the tastebuds for bitterness or saltiness or sourness like we do.

The ability of taste food is essential to survival of all animals. It also helps them determine which is the better(higher in fat and calories) food. A starved little bird will choose to eat suet (beef fat) over seeds in the winter because suet contains higher amount of calories per gram of food. The bird does not necessarily know that the beef fat is better for its health; its species has been naturally selected over thousands of years to seek higher calory food for its survival.