Another example other than birds are squirrels, for example. To clarify what I mean: If you make a noise around them, these animals will suddenly, and very quickly, turn their head towards you. Then, after a couple of seconds, they will turn it away again, in the same sudden, unsmooth way. How come they can’t make smooth movements, and instead just move like a robot?
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1. Continuous movement is more likely to attract the attention of predators/prey. Sufficiently camouflaged non-moving objects are very difficult to see compared to moving ones, so these animals try to reduce the amount of time they spend in motion when possible.
2. To see clearly, natural eyes need a relatively static image for a short period of time (i.e. the object you’re trying to see needs to stay in one specific area in your vision). Most animals can rotate their eyes to counter the movement of the rest of their body and keep the object in focus, however smaller animals (especially birds) often lack that ability and must therefore keep their body (or at least their head) still in order for them to see. This effect is [very visible with chickens](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dPlkFPowCc).
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