One of my standout memories from the Galapagos Islands is watching hundreds of blue-footed boobies

as they circled in the sky offshore and then shot into the ocean like a volley of arrows.

They were hunting fish, of course.

Boobies and Gannets plunge dive to catch fish below the surface.

If they miss their targets, they will often chase fish

underwater by flapping their wings, penguin style. I was told by our Ecuadorian guide that

Abubi's eyes are specially adapted to adjust their focus instantaneously as they cross the boundary

from air to water. You can imagine the visual challenges in this situation.

First, the bird needs to see a fish below the surface, then focus on it and accurately gauge its

depth and position. Then, when it dives down at high speed, its eyes need to be protected from the

impact with the water. If it has any hope of catching

its fishy prey, the bird needs to be able to see with sharp focus underwater. When you open your

eyes underwater in the swimming pool, you can't really focus on anything, can you? Well, that wouldn't

work for boobies. Most animals can see well in either air or water, not both.

These seabirds, however, have evolved a solution to this.

In today's episode, we'll talk about the adaptations of booby eyes

and many other cool things about the vision of birds.

Hello and welcome. This is the Science of Birds. I'm your host, Ivan Phillipsen.

The Science of Birds podcast is a light-hearted, guided exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

This episode is all about the sense of sight in birds.

The main topics here in order are eye anatomy, color vision, visual acuity, and binocular versus

monocular vision.

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