Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Home
Today's Show: Rhinoceros Hornbill
Rhinocerous Hornbill
Listen In
  • Today's Show
  • Listen
    • Daily Shows
    • Threatened
    • Grouse
    • BirdNote Presents
    • How to Listen
  • Explore
    • Field Notes
    • Sights & Sounds
    • Birdwatching
    • Resources for Educators
  • How to Help Birds
    • At Home
    • In Your Community
    • Success Stories
  • About
    • The BirdNote Story
    • The Team
    • Partners
    • For Radio Stations
    • Funding
    • Contact Us
    • FAQs
    • Support BirdNote
  • Donate

The Eagle Eye

The eye of an eagle may weigh more than its brain!
Subscribe to the Podcast
Download
  • Share This:
  • Share to Facebook
  • Share to Twitter
  • Share to Email
Golden Eagle
© Don Baccus

Ever heard the term “eagle eye”? An eagle’s vision is incredibly sharp, and its eyes can weigh more than its brain. The secret to the bird’s exceptional vision is the density of visual cells – the rods and cones – of its retina.

Support for BirdNote comes from the Port Aransas Tourism Bureau. Home to hundreds of species of birds and the Whooping Crane Festival in February. More at VisitPortAransas.com.

  • Full Transcript
  • Credits

BirdNote®

The Eagle’s Eye

Written by Adam Sedgley

This is BirdNote.

[Ambient prairie sounds of Eastern Washington – with call of Golden Eagle]

Ever heard the term “eagle eye”? An eagle’s vision is incredibly sharp, and its eyes can weigh more than its brain. The secret to the bird’s exceptional vision is the density of visual cells, the rods and cones of its retina.

Rods in the eye register the overall shape of objects, while the cones register details, such as contour and color. The rods and cones in a raptor’s eye may be five times more dense than those in a human eye.

[Repeat call of Golden Eagle]

The Golden Eagle soars on a seven-foot wingspan, riding thermals high into the air. From there, it can spot the minute movements of its favorite prey, a rabbit, from over a mile away. That's like you driving forty miles an hour and being able to look back at where you were when this BirdNote started — and spotting that same rabbit.

[Repeat call of Golden Eagle]

Head over to our website, birdnote dot org, to learn more.  

For BirdNote, I’m Ashley Ahearn.

Support for BirdNote comes from the Port Aransas Tourism Bureau. Home to hundreds of species of birds and the Whooping Crane Festival in February. More at visit port aransas dot com.

###

Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Sallie Bodie
Managing Producer: Jason Saul
Editor: Ashley Ahearn
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
Assistant Producer: Mark Bramhill
Narrator: Ashley Ahearn
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. [4160] recorded by A.L. Priori.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2019 BirdNote   November 2016 / 2019

ID#  111505GOEA   sight-02c

Peter E. Nye, New York State Dept. Environmental Conservation, Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources, Albany, NY

Adam Sedgley
Writer
Ashley Ahearn
Narrator
Don Baccus
Photographer
Support More Shows Like This
Tagsflight language raptor science

Related Resources

Golden Eagle - More at All About Birds

More About These Birds

Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)

Aquila chrysaetos

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Sights & Sounds

Related Field Notes

May 14, 2014

A "Skimming" Black Skimmer in CA

By Steve Wolfe
Black Skimmers are a highly social species that live in colonies along coasts or on large inland
April 22, 2014

Helping Birds Avoid Colliding with Glass

By BirdNote Gallery
Birds colliding with glass is a real problem, especially during migration.

Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

Support BirdNote

  • Daily Shows
  • Field Notes
  • BirdNote Presents
  • Sights & Sounds
  • About BirdNote
  • Contact BirdNote
Sign up for our newsletter!
  • BirdNote on Facebook
  • BirdNote on Twitter
  • BirdNote on Instagram

Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy