SUPER SENSES

Of birds and animals

EAGLE SENSE HUNTING

Eagles are large, powerfully built birds

of prey, with a heavy head and beak.

Even the smallest eagles,

DOG SENSE SMELLING

Dog attacks are attacks on humans

by feral or domestic dogs

KINGFISHER SENSE CATCHING

the kingfisher have a long

sharp beak to help it dive down

into the water

TIGER SENSE SMELLING

• Tigers have forward facing eyes rather

than one on each side of their head. This

provides binocular vision because each

eye's field of vision overlaps creating a

three dimensional image.

EYESIGHT1.Vision is a diurnal bird of prey's most important sense

for hunting and reacting to danger.

2.Diurnal birds of prey have excellent vision.

•The eyes are proportionally larger than the eyes of other

vertebrates, providing larger and sharper visual images.

•The retina has more rods and cones (the eye's sensory cells) and

is one-half to two times as thick as the retina of other

vertebrates. More sensory cells mean better visual acuity.•As in

humans, the point of sharpest vision is the fovea. Foveae are

funnel-like areas of the retina packed with color-perceiving cone

cells. Humans have one fovea per eye, while diurnal birds of prey

have two.•In addition, many diurnal birds of prey have

proportionately more sensory cells in the upper half of the retina.

This helps a bird perceive images when looking toward the ground

from a perch or when flying. As a consequence, to scan the sky,

they must turn their heads upside down.•Like humans, diurnal

birds of prey focus on objects through binocular vision (using two

eyes to see); but, can easily detect movement at the edges of their

viewing range using just one eye. 3.Diurnal birds of prey are

thought to see objects at a distance about the same as or up to

three times better than humans. The wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) can discern objects at a distance twice as far as humans.

On the other hand, an American kestrel has visual acuity equal to a

human's (Martin, 1987).

4.Diurnal birds of prey see color, which may play an important

role in food identification and reproductive behavior.

senses

SMELL

1.The importance of smell differs from species to species. Most diurnal birds of

prey aren't sensitive to smell. An exception is the turkey vulture, which is able to

locate carrion from the air by smell alone (Brooke and Birkhead, 1991).

TASTE1.Birds have an acute sense of

taste. Taste is used to help avoid

harmful foods. Sensory receptors

inside the bird's mouth detect

sweet, salt, sour (acid), and bitter

tastes. Sensitivity to each of these

tastes differs from species to species.

TACTILE

1.Scientists feel that birds possess a sense of

touch much like humans.

Super senses in animals

video