A whole lot of incubating going on here. It doesn't look exciting , but it sure is. Inside the eggs a miracle is happening. A whole new falcon is being built in only 33 days. With hundreds of featherbudds, 8 toes, 2 ears, and 2 magnificent eyes. The falcon has the very best eyesight from all animals. He sees amazingly sharp from a distance of a few kilometers.
Flight depends on vision. A blind-folded bird cannot take off or fly properly because it is unable to orient itself. As predator bird ancestors adopted flight, they needed ways to find generally small prey from the air; they needed abilities to see at close range; and they needed to maintain focus at high speeds when in pursuit. The most successful birds of prey in any population were those with eyes better adapted to these demands. Over thousands of generations, natural selection led to populations of predator birds with greater visual capabilities.
How do predatory birds see more sharply than us? First of all they have especially large eyes. Large eyes let in the maximum amount of light, and they also allow for a large image. If a retinal image is spread over a greater number of visual cells, there will be greater resolution to the detail in the image. A bird's eye is so huge it occupies a significant portion of the skull
A flying bird hunting small prey far below must not only be able to distinguish how far away the prey is but also its size, shape, position, and motion. In response to these challenges, raptorial birds evolved precise accommodation and binocularity.
To determine the size and distance of a prey, animals rely on memory as well as visual information. They have to know (remember) how large the prey animal is, and then judge its distance based on the size of the image they see. It's also important to be able to develop a clear image of the prey, no matter what its distance.
The eye automatically focuses at a variety of distances using a natural neuromuscular adjustment called accommodation. In this process, tiny ciliary muscles surrounding the eye alter the curve of the lens so that it will focus on objects that are far or near. Raptor eyes have exceptional capabilities for accommodation. Thus, as a potential prey moves closer or farther from the eagle or hawk, the predator's eyes remain focused by rapidly changing the lens curvature.Binocularity allows for stereoscopic vision, which in turn allows for determination of distance. When an organism compares the slightly different images from the right and left eye, its brain automatically determines the distance to the object. Raptors, with their greater amount of visual field overlap, have the greatest abilities to use binocularity to develop a sharp, three-dimensional image of a large portion of their view.
The Deep Fovea:In birds that need accurate distance vision the most, (i.e.: birds of prey and some other species of bird), a second fovea evolved in the lateral part of the retina. A fovea is a small region of the retina where the concentration of rods and cones is the highest and therefore vision is the sharpest. Raptors, with their wide binocular field of view, have BOTH a central and lateral fovea. As a result, a substantial proportion of their visual field projects on the most visually receptive parts of the retina.
Pecten:Another unique structure in a bird's eye is the pecten. Pecten is a thin, greatly folded tissue extending from the retina to the lens. Predatory birds such as eagles and hawks have the largest and most elaborate pecten of all the birds. The pecten supplies nutrients and oxygen throughout the vitreous humour of the eye, thereby reducing the number of blood vessels in the retina. With fewer blood vessels to scatter light coming into the eye, raptor vision has evolved to be the sharpest vision known among all organisms.
It is everyday a great joy to select the most beautiful photo's from the footage of these Kodak Rochester Webcams. Every image is amazing. Thank you so much Kodak and all the people that make these webcams possible.Together with this magnificent peregrinecouple every photo is awesome!
Well some great news. From Monday next, these cams will be livestreaming!!! The stream will be on the new homepage of Electrabel, the Company that is sponsoring and hosting the feed.
A whole lot of incubating going on here. It doesn't look exciting , but it sure is. Inside the eggs a miracle is happening. A whole new falcon is being built in only 33 days. With hundreds of featherbudds, 8 toes, 2 ears, and 2 magnificent eyes. The falcon has the very best eyesight from all animals. He sees amazingly sharp from a distance of a few kilometers.
Waiting for the eyases to hatch. Maybe tomorrowmorning we will see a glimps of a newborn.
No sign of eyases overhere. Come on guys, it's time to get out.
Lil Mom and Dad busy breeding. 5 eggs need a lot of heat to turn into 5 qute eyases. This is a very experienced couple, who have raised 5 eyases before, so they will manage this time as well. Will be great watching, 5 balls of fluff turning into those beautiful brown juveniles.
An impression of April 9.
Morro Rock is a large geological formation called a morro located a few hundred feet off the shore of Morro Bay, California along the California coast. It stands 576 feet tall at the entrance to the Morro Bay Harbor and a causeway connects it with the shore.
Copyright by Cleve Nash
