Noticed this Egret hunting this morning. If there are any birders out there ... Can an Egret roll their eyeball slightly to face a bit more to the front than normal?
According to experts, Herons, Egrets and other birds of prey have binocular vision / "forward looking" vision.
I have never seen one eat a turtle. Nice capture.
quixdraw wrote:
According to experts, Herons, Egrets and other birds of prey have binocular vision / "forward looking" vision.
Yes, birds/ animals that ARE prey have eyes more or less at the side of their head (for better all-around viewing) The hunters on the other hand have eyes facing forward (to give a better view of their prey).
What I am asking is ... can the egret actually turn the eyeball from essentially a side looking position to one looking forward?
I don't mean physically moving the location on the head - merely rotating the eyeball within its socket. Look at the three photos below. They are of the same bird.
Normal just walking around mode
Hunting Mode
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Download)
Another Hunting Mode
I think your photos answer your question. I've noticed the same thing, yes in my opinion they can roll their eyes forward to get binocular vision which is necessary for good depth perception.
Retired CPO wrote:
I think your photos answer your question. I've noticed the same thing, yes in my opinion they can roll their eyes forward to get binocular vision which is necessary for good depth perception.
I asked because I haven't found anything in writing.
kpmac wrote:
I have never seen one eat a turtle. Nice capture.
I didn't actually see the bird eat the turtle. The turtle was dropped to the ground and the bird was stabbing at it. I figured it would just be a matter of time till the turtle was turned over so its belly was up. I didn't want to see that.
It was a very interesting link. Truly an eye opener :-) I am now reasonably certain (even though I haven't actually read it anywhere) that the birds' eyes do actually rotate in the socket and the socket itself does move a bit. Thank you for that link.
Great set and I didn't know they ate turtles......WOW that's new to me.
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