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Vision in birds

chapter
posted on 2023-06-08, 06:48 authored by G R Martin, Daniel Colaco OsorioDaniel Colaco Osorio
Vision is essential for birds, but the metabolic demands of retinal processing, and also the costs of carrying large eyes, are likely to impose strong selective pressures to optimize performance. This chapter describes how birds acquire visual information, and in particular general principles in physiological optics, and image coding by the photoreceptors. Birds are compared to other animal groups such as insects and primates, while the ways in which eyes differ between birds are related to their visual ecology. Of particular relevance are the light level at which a species is active, how the bird forages and captures its food, and whether it is aquatic. The main topics discussed are as follows: physiological optics, accommodation, visual fields, photoreceptor spectral sensitivities and the function of colored oil droplets, and the way in which signals from the different types of photoreceptor are used in visual behavior.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Publisher

Academic Press

Volume

1

Page range

25-52

Pages

4694.0

Book title

The senses: a comprehensive reference

Place of publication

Amsterdam

ISBN

9780123708809

Department affiliated with

  • Evolution, Behaviour and Environment Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Editors

AI Basbaum, G Westheimer, GM Shepherd, A Kaneko

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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