From its lofty outlook, this Red-tailed Hawk  commands “a bird’s eye view.” The Oxford English Dictionary dates the phrase back to the 1760s, and defines it as “a view of a landscape from above, such as is presented to the eye of a bird.” Debate continues about birds’ visual acuity, but we do know that visual acuity is keenest among birds like flycatchers and hawks, which must pick out very small or distant moving objects. Birds’ eyes are about three times sharper than those of humans. Learn more at StanfordBirds. To get advance notice of coming shows, begin here.

[ Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:01:00 PST ]

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