Concord River Greenway - Bird Life: Camouflage and Vision

Science: Bird Life - Camouflage and Vision

Have you ever seen a broad-winged hawk near the Concord River? Chances are you would miss this particular raptor because of the color and pattern of its feathers blend in so well with the trees. This is called camouflage. For birds, especially small hawks, camouflage is very important because it protects them from predators and helps them to capture prey.

Birds feathers also help them in other ways. Ducks, for example, have oil glands on their rear ends. When the birds preen their feathers, the oils are spread throughout their plumage, allowing them to stay dry, warm, and buoyant.

Bird Vision
While birds in general have a minimal sense of smell, they have excellent senses of vision and hearing. This allows them to hunt and evade predators with great success. Because their vision is such a dominant sense, their eyes are big, too big to wiggle them around like humans can. Birds compensate for this limitation by being adapted to turning their heads around most of the way (but never all the way around, not even owls can do that!).

Many birds, including songbirds and ducks have monocular vision, meaning their eyes are on the side of their heads. This allows for a very wide range of vision, and gives them the chance to quickly notice predators and flee from danger. As the saying goes, “Eyes on the side, born to hide.”

Can you think of a mammal with monocular vision? (Think of another animal that often prey and “born to hide”).

Birds such as raptors have binocular vision. Raptors are bird of prey known for hunting by capturing prey with their sharp and powerful talons. Because their eyes are in the front of their head, they can identify prey at great distance and strike with precision. We say of such birds, “Eyes on the front, born to hunt."

Song birds and birds of prey are well matched, as song birds are masters of hiding from predators while birds of prey are masters of hunting. Who will come out on top is a matter of skill, experience, and chance.

Can you think of a mammal with binocular vision? (Think of an animal that is “born to hunt”; predator.)

Song bird and birds of prey are well matched, as song birds are masters of hiding and evading predators, while birds of prey are masters of hunting. Who will come out on top is a matter of skill, experience, and chance.

Great blue herons are known for their slow-moving, patient hunting tactics, which allow them to ambush and capture prey in shallow water. They are also known for their large size. Their size, as well as monocular vision helps herons to protect themselves from the pursuit of predators and detect subtle movement of prey. While monocular vision may imply that the heron is prey, its spear-like beak shape implies that it is also a predator. The great blue heron is born to hide and hunt. Many other animals also exhibit features of both predator and prey.