[obol] Raptor perception

[Cindy Ashy]

Dan and OBOL:

Please add to those questions:

Are there any known examples of nocturnal birds having the ability to see
infrared?

One could hypothesize (because of different amounts of UV radiation):

The percentage of bird species utilizing a "UV strategy" would increase at
lower latitudes.

The percentage of bird species utilizing a "UV strategy" would increase at
higher elevations.

The percentage of bird species utilizing a "UV strategy" would be greater for
birds more active mid-day than those more active early or late in the
day....and lower yet for crepuscular species.

This could be broken down into various "UV strategies."

Is there anywhere near enough known (even for specific bird groups) about this
to hazard a guess if any of these hypothesis hold true?

It would be interesting also to know if some migrating species such as
shorebirds/raptors switch to different strategies depending on the amount of UV
radiation in different parts of their range.

How might the increases in UV caused by thinning ozone layer affect UV
strategies in birds (since this is happening at an "artifically" high rate -
faster than adaptive evolution can take place for some species/some specific
strategies)?

Cindy Ashy


 
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