Why do owls have big eyes
One of the most striking physical features attributed to owls are its eyes and it is because they are huge and forward-facing, giving them the wise†look. Owls are known to have binocular vision†which means that it can see objects with both eyes all at once. With its distinctive characteristic, an owl’s eye can view things in three dimensions considering the height, width, and depth of the object that the owl is looking at. This attribute is important among birds like owls since it gives them enhanced judgment in distance used for their flight and hunting. The field of vision of an owl is reduced to 110 degrees wherein 70 degrees is considered binocular†vision as compared to humans who have field of vision that is 180 degrees, having 140 degrees functioning as binocular.
A bird’s eye in general is bigger with respect to its skull. However, an owl’s eye is distinctive because it is larger by 2.2 times compared to other birds of the same weight. Owls have big eyes primarily because they are known to be nocturnal animals. An owl’s eyes are specifically designed for low-light hunting.
Owl’s eyes are attached in its socket in addition to its tubular form providing it with big cornea and big pupil that enables an owl’s eye to be more sensitive, efficiently collect, and process light even under dark settings. The tubular nature of an owl’s eye also contributes to the relatively big size of the retina that is jam-packed with light-sensitive rods. Because of the highly developed vision of owls, they are proven to be capable of seeing even at daylight contrary to the belief that they are blind during daytime.
However, because of its tubular shape and attachment to the eye socket, an owl’s eye is restricted to move around. This is compensated by the owl’s long and flexible neck that is hidden under its feathers which can be turned 270 degrees horizontally, both direction, and no less than 90 degrees vertically.
Leave a Reply