Why do pigeons bob their heads when they’re walking around?

365 views

Why do pigeons bob their heads when they’re walking around?

In: 2

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

In addition to u/TheSeethingSea’s comment.

It’s the issue with moving and seeing at the same time. Humans have the ability to move our eyes independently from our head. So as we walk around we unconsciously move our eyes around to keep focused on what we’re seeing while our body is moving. Birds lack the ability to move their eyes so they can’t do this, and their vision would be all messed up as they move.

So they keep their head “floating” sort of like how a steady-cam works in movies. Their bodies move around and their head stays in place and they suddenly jerk their head forward into a new location. This way they can keep focused on what they’re looking at while they move.

You are viewing 1 out of 3 answers, click here to view all answers.