Hello. An ignorant newbie here looking for an authority on eagle vision! (1 Viewer)

[damsonjammer]

Hello. I hope someone can help me! On facebook recently I found a post that had a picture of an eagle, perhaps a bald eagle, attesting that they have 340 degree vision. When I said that can't be true, people said it is, and, "google it". So I did google it:



There seem to be many many pages that are based on the 'all about vision' page above, from 2013,, including wikipedia as shown. This 340 degree vision claim has to be wrong!? I emailed the person who wrote the 2013 all about vision page above sending her this diagram.




She replied helpfully that she would be happy to try to correct the 2013 page, but that she needed an authoritative source to reference. So my question is, please can anyone direct me to an authoritative source (that can be pointed to on the internet) that states clearly and correctly how large an eagle's field of vision is? It's amazing to me how many of google's first large results are wrong, incidentally. Thank you in advance for any help that can be given. I look forward to replies.

 

[Lisa W]

Hi, welcome to the forum on behalf of the staff and moderators. I think you will find us a friendly and helpful group. Sorry to say, I have no idea how to help. You might try posting in our birds of prey area.

 

[delia todd]

Hi damsonjammer and a warm welcome from me too.

Sorry, like Lisa I have no idea about this subject. It's possible someone on this forum does though, and suggest you follow Lisa's advice to post in the Birds of Prey forum.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum. I hope someone can help you.

 

[Mono]

Is your skeptical view purely from personal incredulity or do you have any subject matter knowledge?

A quick look on Google Scholar brings up a number of studies. This paper is a good summary of raptor vision.

Raptor Vision

"Raptor Vision" published on by Oxford University Press.

oxfordre.com

Graham Martin seems to be the go to guy in the field of bird vision. But most of his papers are paywalled.

Professor Graham Martin - School of Biosciences

Professor Graham Martin is an Ornithologist with an international reputation in research in the sensory worlds of birds such as vision, foraging, and why some birds are vulnerable to collisions with human artefacts.

www.birmingham.ac.uk

 

[Chris G6 UXU]

Hello and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

 

[Lerxst]

Here are some general references that you might find useful, and some links to get around paywalls:

Potier, S. (2020) Visual adaptations in predatory and scavenging diurnal raptors. Diversity 12 (10): 400. Visual Adaptations in Predatory and Scavenging Diurnal Raptors

Mitkus, M., Potier, S., Martin, G. et al. (2018) Raptor vision. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Available for free here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326802190_Raptor_vision

Jones, M.P., Pierce, K.E., Ward, D. (2007) Avian vision: a review of form and function with special consideration to birds of prey. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 16 (2): 69–87. Available here for free: Avian Vision: A Review of Form and Function with Special Consideration to Birds of Prey

Potier, S., Mitkus, M., Kelber, A. (2020) Visual adaptations of diurnal and nocturnal raptors. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 106: 116–26.

Redirecting

 

[damsonjammer]

Is your skeptical view purely from personal incredulity or do you have any subject matter knowledge?

A quick look on Google Scholar brings up a number of studies. This paper is a good summary of raptor vision.

Raptor Vision

"Raptor Vision" published on by Oxford University Press.

oxfordre.com

Graham Martin seems to be the go to guy in the field of bird vision. But most of his papers are paywalled.

Professor Graham Martin - School of Biosciences

Professor Graham Martin is an Ornithologist with an international reputation in research in the sensory worlds of birds such as vision, foraging, and why some birds are vulnerable to collisions with human artefacts.

www.birmingham.ac.uk

Thanks a lot for your reply. I suppose my initial response is based on a natural scepticism combined with the application of reason, as I see it, to the evidence - in this case, a picture of an eagle! In other words, may I say, it's bleedin' obvious. I'm glad to see, actually, that the oxford research article that you have very helpfully linked to has a couple of diagrams that state the blind spot of Harris's hawks and black kites as 73 and 83 degrees respectively. Most of the interest seems to be in the field of binocular vision at the front. I know nothing about birds, in all honesty, but as a manifestation of widespread unthinkingness in the context of of bogus authority, this issue has slightly got my goat, so again much thanks for your help.

 

[damsonjammer]

Hello and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

Thank you!

 

[damsonjammer]

Hi damsonjammer and a warm welcome from me too.

Sorry, like Lisa I have no idea about this subject. It's possible someone on this forum does though, and suggest you follow Lisa's advice to post in the Birds of Prey forum.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.

Thanks!

 

[damsonjammer]

Here are some general references that you might find useful, and some links to get around paywalls:

Potier, S. (2020) Visual adaptations in predatory and scavenging diurnal raptors. Diversity 12 (10): 400. Visual Adaptations in Predatory and Scavenging Diurnal Raptors

Mitkus, M., Potier, S., Martin, G. et al. (2018) Raptor vision. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Available for free here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326802190_Raptor_vision

Jones, M.P., Pierce, K.E., Ward, D. (2007) Avian vision: a review of form and function with special consideration to birds of prey. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 16 (2): 69–87. Available here for free: Avian Vision: A Review of Form and Function with Special Consideration to Birds of Prey

Potier, S., Mitkus, M., Kelber, A. (2020) Visual adaptations of diurnal and nocturnal raptors. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 106: 116–26.

Redirecting

Thank you for your helpful reply. The last paper cites the blind area for a short-toed Eagle as approx 100 degrees at the horizontal, and the 2018 article states the blind spot of Harris's hawks and black kites as 73 and 83 degrees respectively. So that might do the job!

 

[Fritz73]

Hola! Welcome to Birdforum