What does it mean when scientists say “an eagle can see a rabbit in a field from a mile away”. Is their vision automatically more zoomed in? Do they have better than 20/20 vision? Is their vision just clearer?

Question

What does it mean when scientists say “an eagle can see a rabbit in a field from a mile away”. Is their vision automatically more zoomed in? Do they have better than 20/20 vision? Is their vision just clearer?

In: Biology

Answer 1

It’s not just that an eagle has better magnification in their eyeball than you do, they also have millions of years of focusing on all animals they fly over, and knowing exactly which ones can’t put up enough of a fight.

So past the millions of years of developing a super-strong kneejerk reaction to “THAT thing I can eat”, they also have eyes [that are literally telescopes, cylindrical.](https://chestofbooks.com/animals/zoology/Anatomy/images/Eye-of-the-Owl.jpg) To get the distance and depth perception they need.

So yes, on the topic of pattern recognition and target acquisition, they shit all over you.