Journal
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 196, Issue 12, Pages 879-888Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s00359-010-0570-0
Keywords
Binocular vision; Head movements; Visual fields; Eye movements; Corvids
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation [DBI-0641550]
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems [0937187] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Inter-specific differences in the configuration of avian visual fields and degree of eye/head movements have been associated with foraging and anti-predator behaviors. Our goal was to study visual fields, eye movements, and head movements in two species of corvids: American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and Western scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica). American crows had wider binocular overlap, longer vertical binocular fields, narrower blind areas, and higher amplitude of eye movement than Western scrub jays. American crows can converge their eyes and see their own bill tip, which may facilitate using different foraging techniques (e.g., pecking, probing) and manufacturing and handing rudimentary tools. Western scrub jays had a higher head movement rate than American crows while on the ground, and the opposite between-species difference was found when individuals were perching. Faster head movements may enhance the ability to scan the environment, which may be related to a higher perceived risk of predation of Western scrub jays when on the ground, and American crows when perching. The visual field configuration of these species appears influenced mostly by foraging techniques while their scaning behavior, by predation risk.
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