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Spotted Eagle-Owl eye Detailed picture of the eye from a Spotted Eagle-Owl.<br /> Owl eyes are very special because of it&#039;s extreme light sensitivity. To increase light sensitivity the eyes are not eye balls, but elongated tubes which are held in place by bony structures in the skull. For this reason, an Owl cannot &quot;roll&quot; or move its eyes so it can only look straight ahead.<br /> In the eye there are rods and cones to see light and color. Rods are more sensitive to light then the cones, the owl has many rods but not many cones. Color vision is sacrificed for increased light sensitivity.<br /> Some people say that owls can not see well in daylight, but this is not true.<br /> <br /> Dutch name: Afrikaanse oehoe Bubo africanus,Spotted Eagle-Owl Click/tap to enlarge PromotedCountry intro

Spotted Eagle-Owl eye

Detailed picture of the eye from a Spotted Eagle-Owl.
Owl eyes are very special because of it's extreme light sensitivity. To increase light sensitivity the eyes are not eye balls, but elongated tubes which are held in place by bony structures in the skull. For this reason, an Owl cannot "roll" or move its eyes so it can only look straight ahead.
In the eye there are rods and cones to see light and color. Rods are more sensitive to light then the cones, the owl has many rods but not many cones. Color vision is sacrificed for increased light sensitivity.
Some people say that owls can not see well in daylight, but this is not true.

Dutch name: Afrikaanse oehoe

    comments (3)

  1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
    Ferdy Christant
    Lion
    View Lion class
    Amazing shot and a very educational explanation. Promoted! Posted 12 years ago
  2. View Ludo Sak's profile
    Ludo Sak
    Lion
    View Lion class
    I fully agree, Ferdy, nice one Joost! I was once told by an owl lady that the colour of the eyes shows its main hunting timeframe. Though indeed owls hunt potentially 24 hours a day, its eyes till the hours it likes to hunt most, or is optimized to hunt.
    Yellow, orange, brown tell the story of an early, daytime, or late hunt.     Posted 12 years ago
    1. View Joost Thissen's profile
      Joost Thissen
      Lion
      View Lion class
      Indeed also the 'valkenier' also told the story about the color of the eyes and the normal hunting hours. But I have not been able to read that elsewhere and wikipedia says the color is specie related. So it might be true, but I have kept that out of the story just because I have got no confirmation. Still looking for that though. Posted 12 years ago

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The Spotted Eagle-Owl

The Spotted Eagle-Owl is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the Eagle owls. Its length is forty-five cm and its weight is from 480 to 850g . It has a 100 centimetres to 140 centimetres wingspan. The facial disk is off white to pale ochre and the eyes are yellow. It has prominent ear tufts, and the upper body is dusky brown, the lower parts off-white with brown bars. Prior to 1999 the Spotted Eagle-Owl was considered conspecific with the Greyish Eagle-Owl, but now it is classed.. more

Info 22 0
Similar species: Owls
Species identified by Joost Thissen
View Joost Thissen's profile

By Joost Thissen

Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
Uploaded Dec 27, 2012. Captured Oct 26, 2012 14:19.
country flag of Netherlands Explore Netherlands 8,314 2,306 0
  • NIKON D60
  • f/5.6
  • 10/6400s
  • ISO200
  • 200mm

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