Outdoor Ontario
Discussion => General Discussions => Topic started by: Dinusaur on September 14, 2013, 08:44:53 PM
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The other day I took a picture of a diving Osprey. When I looked at the photo on my computer screen I was a bit disheartened by slightly milky eyes that I thought was caused by motion blur (see the first picture). Later when I zoomed in some of the other photos (second and third photos below), I noticed a retracting membrane of their eyes that actually gave the effect of a motion blur. This membrane probably protects their eyes as they dive in. Those of you who are as novice as I am when it comes to Osprey, don't be discouraged if Osprey eyes in some of our best photos do not turn up bright yellow. No point of trying to fix it in Photoshop, its part and parcel of the bird itself.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7337/9752723281_4d3a2aac97_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7440/9752996513_d55fe78f00_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7340/9752719862_839ef75912_z.jpg)
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Cool! I think I knew that some birds had these membranes, but I never would have guessed they moved in that direction. Apparently is called a nictitating membrane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nictitating_membrane). I remember, as a kid, being fascinated by this in frogs, but I had no idea it was so widespread in the animal kingdom.
BB
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I've noticed this before a few times in several different species of birds, including the osprey. Here are a few more examples:
Red-tailed hawk:
(http://mschertzberg.zenfolio.com/img/s11/v27/p1947897843-4.jpg)
Red-tailed hawk with nictitating membrane closed
(http://mschertzberg.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v23/p2118227692-4.jpg)
Black-crowned night-heron
(http://mschertzberg.zenfolio.com/img/s1/v48/p1901518021-4.jpg)
Thanks for the post!
Mike