Avian eyesight
Chris Fulton
I am doing some studying for Ornithology (the study of birds) class right
now, and came across something I thought was really interesting regarding
bird eyesight. Birds have extraordinary eyesight -- a common European
Starling's (what I call flying rats -- not pigeons) eyes make up 15% of
its head mass. Here's something interesting: the eyes of eagles and owls
are as big as the eyes of humans! I guess I already knew that, but think
about the relative total body size difference.
Most birds' eyes are on the sides of the head, only allowing monocular
vision. To get depth perception, birds rapidly bob their heads,
getting the view from two different locations, thus approximating two
eyes. Ever notice the wary one-eyed look a duck gives you after landing
in your decoys, as it realizes that _something_is_wrong_with_this_picture...
Only the New Zealand Blue Duck is capable of looking straight forward.
Here's another interesting item: woodcocks have huge eyes, and they are
set far back on the head, giving them broad _rearview_ binocular vision.
Moral here: to sneak up on a woodcock, approach it from the bill, not the
tail...
Just some stuff I thought interesting about the quarry we seek;
Chris Fulton
Biology major
George Fox College
Newberg, Oregon
Sam Gaylord
: Hello Folks;
More eye info (got it from a Mark Trail comic strip years ago)...
Most prey animals (those eaten) have their eyes on the side of their head
for a less accurate, but wider view. Most preditor animals have their
eyes in the front, with a narrower field of view, but much more accuracy
with the binoculur vision.
samg