Why do most birds bob their head back and forth when they walk?
In: 57
Disregard the other answers, it has nothing to do with depth perception. The answer is actually really simple: chickens can’t move their eyes within the eye socket.
In order to see properly, the eye needs to be focused on a particular point. As the focus moves the image becomes blury. That’s why, when you look from one point of focus to another your eyes change directly instead of moving smoothly as you’d pan a camera.
Because mammals (and some birds) can move their eyes they can focus on a point while their heads are moving. For those birds who cannot move their eyes in their sockets they have to keep their head still. That’s actually what chickens are doing when they’re bobbing; they are quickly moving their heads forward so that they can keep it still while moving their bodies.
Latest Answers