Vision
Vision is the primary source of information about the environments in which birds live. But vision is not ‘all-seeing’; it is subject to many constraints, trade-offs, and compromises. Furthermore, the basic components of eyes (optics, image analysing systems, and eye positions) have been subject to intense and persistent natural selection which has resulted in eyes whose capacities are tuned in many and subtle ways to the perceptual challenges posed by life in different environments. Colour vision, spatial resolution, contrast sensitivity, absolute sensitivity, and visual fields all differ markedly between species. Even two birds with eyes that appear very similar may have quite different bird’s eye views, and all birds have a different world view from our own. Knowledge of these differences is vital for understanding the behaviours of birds. While vision provides key information only rarely is it sufficient to guide behaviour, information from other senses must come into play.