There is no official ranking, because scientists have never done a study comparing the visual ability of animals. But, based on the various isolated studies on the vision of animals, it is possible to bet with certainty: birds of prey are the ones who see best on the planet. This, of course, taking into account the range of vision. For these animals, visual accuracy is a basic requirement to get their lunch each day.
On the podium of good eyes, the bronze medal goes to the falcon. When hunting, he sees small prey at an altitude of 1,500 meters. The second place goes to the Rüppel’s vulture (Gyps rueppellii), the highest flying bird in the world, reaching more than 11,000 meters. In its stratospheric journeys across the African continent, the vulture spots a rabbit 2,500 meters away. But the big winner is the common buzzard (Buteo buteo), which manages to focus on a mouse trying to hide in the grass while flying at an altitude of 5,000 meters.
And where does man fall on that vision list? No one knows for sure, but we certainly wouldn’t even make it to the top 10. That’s because, in addition to birds of prey, felines are also good with an eye. The eyes of these animals have special cells that greatly improve their vision at dusk and at night – there are studies that show that their vision is six times better than ours! Just below, we tell you more details about these super winners, showing even more champions with other types of skills when it comes to vision.
eye on bid
Seeing well is a matter of life and death for hunters and hunters alike.
Panoramic view
The champions are rabbits, who have incredible 360-degree peripheral vision. The secret is that the eyes of these animals are positioned on the side, allowing them to monitor the surroundings to escape predators. “For these animals, what matters is having a wide field of vision, which gives them the chance to follow everything that is going on around them”, says ophthalmologist Beatriz Simões Correa, from the Brazilian Society of Ophthalmology.
Night vision
In the dark, the gold medal for vision goes to the owl, which sees a mouse more than 80 meters away — and that’s on a moonless night! Its eyes are equipped with a type of special lens, which makes them work like a telescope that brings the image closer.
long range vision
The buzzard eagle sees small rodents when flying at 5,000 meters high. This extraordinary ability is possible because this bird’s retina has millions of photoreceptors, light-sensitive cells that increase the visual range.
color vision
The king of colors is the Squilla mantis, a type of shrimp capable of seeing a range of colors much greater than that observed by the human eye. This crustacean has an advantage over us for having a retina with more types of cones, the pigments that allow us to see in color. While the Squilla mantis has 12 types of cones, we have three. We even lost to pigeons, which have five!