It has long been recognised that nest depredation by
olfactory-searching mammals greatly influences the
reproductive success of ground-nesting birds. Yet
adaptations of birds to diminish smell during nesting have
rarely been investigated. Recently, a remarkable shift in
the composition of uropygial gland secretions (preen
waxes) was discovered in many ground-nesting shorebirds
and ducks that begin incubation, during which the usual
mixtures of monoester preen waxes are replaced by
mixtures of less volatile diester waxes. In this study we
show experimentally that an olfactory-searching dog had greater difficulty detecting mixtures of the less volatile
diesters than mixtures of monoesters. This is consistent
with the hypothesis that diester preen waxes reduce birds’
smell and thereby reduce predation risk
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