以前科學家認爲鳥類沒有嗅覺。但是近年來的科學研究表明，鳥類不僅有嗅覺，而且嗅覺還在鳥類擇偶時起着重要作用。
Choosing a mate by sniffing
by Jason Daley
For decades, researchers thought birds lacked a sense of smell. The line of thinking was that scent gets dispersed（消散） in the wind, so it's not the most accurate tool to locate prey or keep tabs on a predator. Instead, other senses, like sight or hearing, became more fine-tuned because smell just wasn't as necessary. Recently, however, new research has overturned this idea.
decade /ˈdekeɪd/ n. 十年
researcher /rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. 研究者（由research加上表示人的後綴-er）
sense of smell 嗅覺
line /laɪn/ n. 方式
scent /sent/ n. 氣味、體味
accurate /ˈækjurət/ adj. 準確的
locate /ləʊˈkeɪt/ v. 定位
prey /preɪ/ n. 獵物
keep tabs on 仔細觀察、密切留意
predator /ˈpredətə(r)/ n. 捕食者
fine-tune /ˌfaɪnˈtjuːn/ v. 微調
overturn /ˌəʊvəˈtɜːn/ v. 推翻
Now, a new study suggests that not only can birds smell, but they identify each other using the unique scent of the microbiome（微生物羣） found in their preen glands located at the base of their tail feathers.
suggest /səˈdʒest/ v. 表明
identify /aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ v. 識別
unique /juːˈniːk/ adj. 獨特的
preen gland 尾脂腺
base /beɪs/ n. 基底
tail /teɪl/ n. 尾巴
feather /ˈfeðə(r)/ n. 羽毛
One way birds stay clean is by spreading around oil produced by the preen gland. It's thought that the oil is primarily used to preserve feathers, but previous studies of bird olfaction（嗅覺） have also shown that some species communicate using the oil.
spread /spred/ v. 使擴散、塗抹
primarily /praɪˈmer(ə)li/ adv. 主要地（由primary加後綴-ly變成副詞）
preserve /prɪˈzɜːv/ v. 保護
species /ˈspiːʃiːz/ n. 物種（單數和複數都是species）
communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/ v. 交流、溝通
For a new paper published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, researchers led by Danielle Whittaker, an ornithologist（鳥類學家） at Michigan State University, investigated how these scents are produced. The team injected antibiotics directly into the preen glands of dark-eyed juncos（燈草雀）, a North American songbird, then analyzed how that changed the bacterial（細菌的） communities in the preen oil and subsequently, the odor（氣味）. They also began culturing the bacteria found in the preen oil of other juncos.
paper /ˈpeɪpə(r)/ n. 論文
publish /ˈpʌblɪʃ/ v. 發表
journal /ˈdʒɜːn(ə)l/ n. 期刊
experimental /ɪkˌsperɪˈment(ə)l/ adj. 實驗的（由experiment加後綴-al變成形容詞）
investigate /ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪt/ v. 調查研究
inject /ɪnˈdʒekt/ v. 注射
antibiotic /ˌæntibaɪˈɒtɪk/ n. 抗生素
dark-eyed 有着黑眼睛的
songbird /ˈsɒŋbɜːd/ n. 叫聲像唱歌的鳥（由song和bird組成）
analyze /ˈæn(ə)laɪz/ v. 分析
community /kəˈmjuːnəti/ n. 社區、菌落
preen oil 尾脂
subsequently /ˈsʌbsɪkwəntli/ adv. 隨之而來地（由subsequent加後綴-ly變成副詞）
culture /ˈkʌltʃə(r)/ v. （在實驗室）培養
bacterium /bækˈtɪəriəm/ n. 細菌（bacteria /bækˈtɪəriə/ 是複數）
They found that all of the bacteria in the birds' microbiome produce certain scent notes. When combined, the bacteria produce the birds' personal scent, which in turn has an impact on their mating success.
note /nəʊt/ n. 基本氣味、氣味元素
combine /kəmˈbaɪn/ v. 合併
in turn 接下來
impact /ˈɪmpækt/ n. 影響
mate /meɪt/ v. 求偶、交配
"The odors produced by birds are unique to them and allow other birds to gain crucial information regarding the mating process," Whittaker says in a statement. "Alter that bacteria and the bird could be less attractive to potential mates." Next, the team would like to find out exactly what type of information the microbiome, and therefore the odor, is relaying（傳送） to other birds.
crucial /ˈkruːʃ(ə)l/ adj. 至關重要的
regarding /rɪˈɡɑːdɪŋ/ prep. 關於
process /ˈprəʊses/ n. 過程
statement /ˈsteɪtmənt/ n. 陳述、說明
alter /ˈɒltə(r)/ v. 改變、修改
potential /pəˈtenʃ(ə)l/ adj. 潛在的
mate /meɪt/ n. 配偶、伴侶
The next step for Whittaker is to see just how much the bacteria in the preen gland impacts the juncos' love lives. Over the past few decades, researchers have found that juncos living in urban areas no longer breed with juncos from the woodlands. She hopes to investigate whether changes in each population's microbiome are causing them to become reproductively（生殖上） isolated from one another. It's possible that city birds and country birds literally do not like the smell of one another.
impact /ɪmˈpækt/ v. 影響（它做動詞和做名詞時發音不同）
urban /ˈɜːb(ə)n/ adj. 城市的
breed /briːd/ v. 繁殖
woodland /ˈwʊdlənd/ n. 林地（由wood和land組成）
cause /kɔːz/ v. 造成、導致
isolate /ˈaɪsəleɪt/ v. 隔離
literally /ˈlɪt(ə)r(ə)li/ adv. 確實（表示強調）
（如果您發現某些行的最後一個單詞被分成兩半了，請把您使用的瀏覽器升級到最新版本就能正常顯示了。）