Sense of Vision for Birds - Page 2

Based on the size of their eyes alone, you might guess that birds see extremely well. Their eyes are much larger in proportion to the sizes of their heads than our eyes are. In fact, some owls and eagles have eyes that are the same size as human eyes, though their heads are much smaller than ours.

Some birds have developed extremely unusual vision to detect predators. Woodcocks have enormous eyes that sit so far back in their heads that their fields of view actually overlap to the rear, so that they can see directly behind them. A woodcock probing with its bill in the soil will never be surprised from behind. A bittern eyes look horizontally at an approaching predator even when its bill points skyward.

Birds' vision is also different from ours in how they see color. Birds are sensitive to the same wavelengths of light as we are, but scientists have recently learned that they can also see ultraviolet light. Because of this, their perception of flowers and other natural objects that have ultraviolet patterns is quite different from ours.