6. Myth: Mother birds will reject their young once touched by humans.

谬误6：雏鸟一旦被人摸过，就会被鸟妈妈拒绝。

Birds have a very limited sense of smell, and the slight scent left by touching a baby bird will definitely not get detected by its mother. In fact, birds are very devoted to their young and are unlikely to leave the nest because of an unknown scent – although they have been known to abandon their nests due to disturbance. Hardly ever will a bird abandon the nest with chicks, which is plainly against the nature of raising offspring. Returning a young bird to its nest can save the chick, and as long as there are no other major disturbances, it is highly unlikely that the mother will detect human contact.

鸟类的嗅觉非常有限，被人摸过留下的轻微气味绝不会被鸟妈妈觉察到。事实上，鸟类十分关注自己的雏鸟，不太可能因为一点未知气味就离开鸟巢，——当然人们都知道，如果受到干扰，它们也会放弃自己的鸟巢。很少有鸟能放弃还有雏鸟的鸟巢，这显然违背鸟类抚养后代的本性。把一只幼鸟送回鸟巢可以拯救小鸟，只要没有什么重大干扰，鸟妈妈极不可能察觉出人类的接触。