Anomalous binocular vision in African Harrier-hawks

Portugal, S. J., Ozturk, R., Murn, C. P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4064-6060, Potier, S. and Martin, G. R. (2023) Anomalous binocular vision in African Harrier-hawks. Current Biology, 33 (21). R1142-R1143. ISSN 0960-9822 doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.016

Abstract/Summary

An animal’s visual field is the three-dimensional space around its head from which it can extract visual information at any instant. Bird visual fields vary markedly between species, and this variation is likely to be driven primarily by foraging ecology. We used the ophthalmoscopic reflex technique to determine the binocular visual fields of African Harrier-hawks and compared this with similar data available for other species from the Accipitridae family (Gypaetinae, Circaetinae, Aegypiinae, Aquilinae, Accipitrinae, Buteoninae). African Harrier-hawks are distinct among Accipitridae with respect to the degree of binocularity present in the upper portion of their visual field. We suggest that this distinctive binocular field topography is related to the African Harrier-hawks’ foraging strategies and prey location behaviours and are associated with their double-jointed ankle/intertarsal joints.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-pure-test.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/113542
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.016
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Geography and Environmental Science Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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