I’ve always wondered whether eagles (and hawks, falcons, really any bird of prey that relies on their vision to hunt) can “zoom in” with their eyes just like it’s a camera lens. Because whenever I watch a nature documentary about eagles, the camera technique they show is that of a camera zoom, zooming in towards the prey hundreds of meters away.
I know that with human eyes, we can’t optically zoom in with our eyes. Sure, our eyes can focus on stuff really close to us, making the background blurry, but it’s not like we can “zoom in” to stuff far in the distance.
So to reiterate, can eagles zoom in to view objects in the distance like their eyes are a camera lens or binoculars with zoom?
In: Biology
No they can’t, but they have acute vision that is 4 to 8 times better than humans and allows them to see over much greater distances.
They also have a higher density of photoreceptors which allows them to see greater detail.
Their field of view is massive too and they can very quickly adjust focus to track moving prey.
not in the mechanical sense like a camera zooms, no.
for starters, their eyesight is like 4-8x stronger than humans……so they can see details at distance that humans can’t. on top of that they have better focus and color recognition than us.
Their eyes are also not shaped the same. you know how you can squint to focus in on something a little better? imagine that but with way better eyesight to start with
the camera zooming in in documentaries is to give you an idea of your human eyesight vs. how clear the eagle is seeing the same thing.
Humans can “zoom in” too. Focus on a point within your field of vision. Now focus on a different point within your field of vision. You just “zoomed in” from one point of interest to another. Eagles just have a bigger and wider field of vision with higher resolution than we do.
No but it is already zoomed in. Imagine there’s a high res, wall size aerial print hanging on the wall of a village or something. So high res that you can see leaves and mice on the ground. Now, if you stand 30ft away from the wall you won’t be able to see the details, just like in real life. But if you step up to the photo, you can focus in on the details like leaves or a blade of grass.
Thats kind of how the eagle’s eye works. He has the high res photo and it’s available to him as if he’s an inch away, able to closely scrutinize whatever detail he wants. Whereas you’re basically standing 30ft away. It’s the same photo with the same details, you just can’t resolve the small details with the eyes you have.
Sort of, but they are not selecting either wide view or zoomed inn view. They see both at the same time. You have sort of the same. You see things in the corner of your eye very blurry. As things get closer to the center of your view then you can see it better and better. But at some point you do not see it any better then when you are looking right at it. Eagles have a very similar view as humans. But in addition to being able to see things as humans see things they can see things even more clear the closer it is to the center of their view. Essentially continuing the improvement in eyesight. But there is no switching back and forth between two zoom levels.
The best way you might experience this is if you see through a telescope, like you find in binoculars, rifle scopes, or a camera. But instead of keeping your off-eye closed you open this as well. It takes some practice to get used to this but you will be able to get both a wide area view with your one eye as well as a highly detailed view in the center of your viewfinder. With only a bit of practice your brain is able to combine these views into one complete picture. This is how Eagles are able to see, but in both eyes all the time.
You know how you can clearly see a bunny from 10 feet away? The eagle can see it just as clearly from 100 feet away without the need to zoom.
You don’t need to zoom.
My vision is just good enough that I don’t wear glasses or need glasses. Never even considered that my vision isn’t good.
Then I did get glasses. I had no idea what is possible. I mean I’m telling you I could count the blades of grass on a football field. I could count the leaves on a tree at a distance.
Point is, you don’t need zoom to “see” things far away. Glasses brought my vision above average and I could 100% “see further” even though it’s just making out detail.
Anecdotal evidence but I can say from firsthand experience the amount of detail is all that really matters.
Side note, I do not wear glasses at all ever anymore, I just had them for like a month years ago. I only feel like my vision is bad after putting them on, because I can totally get by and read all the things I need to read without them. I just can’t read a street sign a mile away like I can with glasses.
Put your hand up in front of.your face and focus on it.
After that, leave your hand up, but focus on something behind your hand that is a good distance away from you.
Notice how your hand loses focus but you gain clear focus of whatever is behind your hand.
That’s exactly what eagles do, just to much, much greater degree.
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