Just How Good is Eagle Vision? | Natural World: Super Powered Eagles | BBC Earth

In a remote part of Scotland, expert bird handler Lloyd Buck sets up a game of hide and seek for his golden eagle Tilly to test just how good her eyesight is.
Subscribe: bit.ly/BBCEarthSub
#BBCEarth #Eagles #Hunting
Watch more:
Planet Earth bit.ly/PlanetEarthPlaylist
Blue Planet bit.ly/BluePlanetPlaylist
Planet Earth II bit.ly/PlanetEarthIIPlaylist
Planet Dinosaur bit.ly/PlanetDinosaurPlaylist
Natural World: Super Powered Eagles (2020)
Revealing the science behind eagles - the most powerful birds on the planet. With 60 different species, each perfectly built for the kill, they've made their home along coastlines and in deserts, mountains and forests. This film tells the story of the eagle and discovers why it has been so successful. It follows a family of bald eagles as the chicks grow and develop. And from fishing eagles to snake eagles, it finds out how they have adapted their skills to conquer the world.
Welcome to BBC EARTH! The world is an amazing place full of stories, beauty and natural wonder. Here you'll find 50 years worth of entertaining and thought-provoking natural history content. Dramatic, rare, and exclusive, nature doesn't get more exciting than this.
This is a commercial page from BBC Studios. Service information and feedback: bbcworldwide.com/vod-feedback-...

[@aymanus]

that gliding shot at 3:41 is just majestic

[@shimronnetia]

Yes

[@Dani-GGerman]

Shout out to the man that counted how many cones a human have in the eyes. ❤

[@benjackson6260]

Ummm its actually done by microscopes, and AI... Basically u need to zoom in enough to accurately identity just 1 cone shape or rod shape... Then feed it into the computing software, and it will identity the rest for u... With today's tech, apart from brain, and soul, nothing inside our body is unknown...

[@PierreChen91]

😄

[@indakut]

😂

[@mohamedAli-kj6fb]

I'm sure it was a computers that analyzed the photo in a lab.

[@alexwatson3064]

Guy in lab: “1… 2.. 3…”

[@chumark54]

I believe that eagle indeed had no problem seeing Lloyd, but his shouting ruined the experiment.

[@ivantolosana5594]

Agree

[@Grandroborox]

he didn't need to wave maniacally either.

[@Sinsults]

Totally right They can spot a white mouse twitch a whisker in a snowy tundra I'm sure it can spot a man yelling and waving frantically on top of a hill 😂

[@ciii1237]

​@@Grandroboroxeagle : really? Okay let's make him happy, youtube

[@Me97202]

The experiment was made invalid as soon as he started shouting.

[@RFKJrForPrez]

4:08 Why is he standing so close to him lol

[@puppergump4117]

They are becoming one

[@gentx2160]

Love at first sight!

[@HB-tf5mv]

I saw that and thought about how I hate when people do that. You have to awkwardly create separation.

[@praveengowda1882]

I think wind is very fast, so they can't hear each other

[@EXTREMEMEGALORDGALACTICSPARTON]

Weren’t you listening? We humans only have 200,000 cones in our eyes, they stood that close because any further and they wouldn’t be able to see each other

[@459luker]

Absolutely impressive, no doubt about it. Especially the way she took a less direct route in order to take advantage of air currents. But the guy was waving and flailing around which would have made it much easier for her (maybe?). They should have tried again with him remaining still. It would have been really interesting to see how much of a role movement plays in an eagles ability to identify targets.

[@anonymousss8]

and he shouted

[@BrokeAgain]

yup... im sure they failed when they were not waving, probably took multiple attempts for the show.

[@KPid10t]

I would imagine you're right and that it has a lot to do with it. We work the same way. For example, if you're ever stargazing and want to look for a meteor shower or satellites, the best thing to do is pick one single star in an open part of the sky and just stare at it... eventually if something does appear your eyes will immediately dart to it - almost instinctually without thought.

[@mythrindiir1463]

@@anonymousss8 They can not hear shouts from 2 km away

[@mythrindiir1463]

Most of the eagles targets are moving in real life. Whether he was moving or not humans couldn't have seen him. Still just as impressive.

[@OMtNI]

Came for the eagle and I'm left with hope for the future. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@Fyoutube12]

Because of some birds? Lol stupid people everywhere on here

[@AVNIFF]

Yeah exactly 💯😊

[@makteko]

Even I would find Lloyd. Waving and shouting😂

[@Shirogari]

Neat way to use AI. Also nice explaination about the wind turbines, I had always wondered why birds flew into them.

[@tyron8112]

Perhaps large tennis racket poles with diamond mesh on each side could help too

[@Music-xp5wg]

I am still confused. Can't they see them when they are far away already?

[@Shirogari]

They can see the turbines yes, however they can't see/predict the movement of the blades since they're coming from above the bird.

[@Layput]

The eagle's powerful eyesight really makes me cry.

[@jakevendrotti1496]

What? Why?

[@DevanteRackley]

Bro, touch grass

[@recurrenTopology]

I wonder what Lloyd's near-UV signature looked like in comparison to the surrounding moorland. In addition to having outstanding visual acuity, eagles (like all birds) have a 4 types of cones (we have 3), one of which is sensitive to near-UV light. So while we saw Lloyd as wearing a drab green outfit which blended in well with the environment, it's possible that for the eagle he was far more conspicuous.

[@janeblogs324]

Yeah they can see scorpions as if they were neon lights

[@piteusx8440]

What a majestic animal.

[@rockbottomwriter]

The guy's shouting ruined it, also him waving his arms about.

[@paulodrca]

it's the BBC, they have to imbue everything with fake life and meaning - nothing is good enough just as it actually is

[@muhammadbasir83]

I believe that Lloyd waving and shouting after 15 minutes waiting without results.

[@Namanfornature]

Thank you so much for the beautiful technology to save such a magnificent bird

[@apkhackwithpc2]

Eagle having superpowered eyesight and me who have glasses

[@jamescrossland2599]

It's "Johnny 5" from 'Short Circuit' 😊

[@thegadflygang5381]

"WOOOO HOOOO... WHAT A BIRD YOU ARE!!!" I felt that man's excitement and triumph more than any big staged Hollywood movie set piece. Actually pumped my fist in the air he got me so fired up. Magnificent

[@KK-co2tj]

There is always a catch with incredible power.

[@smcptrsa]

Eagles are magical 😍

[@Onetwothreefour.]

Y’all are killing me. You finally start listing the episodes. Which is great. So I just went to watch this episode. “Sorry, currently not available” lol. But anyhow, thanks for the clip.

[@omais5399]

BBC VIDEOS ARE ALWAYS INSPIRING & fascinating.

[@mariadaluzmoutinho5701]

A BBC tem sempre vídeos que nos fascinam ...isto é simplesmente incrível... de uma linda espécie que tem uma visão invejável e fenomenal! Importante...o projecto ...para salvar esta imponente ave que dá uma leveza aos céus!!

[@aqcapture]

Fantastic video, great to see they're protecting the birdlife in Wyoming

[@oguzhan9424]

Such an impressive living being ❤️

[@qudezheng]

Love that Lloyd is so excited about his eagle lol

[@raradidio1107]

They make a great argument for tearing those wind turbines down. If I ever saw a bald eagle get hurt by one of these I would take direct action.

[@Natureindica]

Nature is amazing

[@peakadventures_]

So glad they're looking out for eagles and other feathered friends

[@AniFam]

Awesome~👍 Thank you for sharing this video~🤗

[@NondeM]

So Majestically beautiful

[@noelcain20000]

I want a eagle I love them there my favorite 🦅 ❤

[@awesomedave8484]

So cool!!! Thanks for sharing.

[@MiladHeidary1]

How do you even record suck amazing views?! Magnificent

[@StillAProudAmerican-ll2yc]

Fix your typo, lol

[@TCPUDPATM]

@1:57 The level of technology that birds employ so naturally and effortlessly … is mind-blowing.

[@eduardovc4527]

what? techology?

[@joeg5265]

@@eduardovc4527 “Technology is the application of knowledge for achieving practical goals in a reproducible way”

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

@@joeg5265 well ackshually...

[@TCPUDPATM]

@@eduardovc4527 Sounds funny, but that’s the best way I could describe it. Their entire body has been organically designed and optimized through evolution to fly.

[@eduardovc4527]

@@TCPUDPATM yeah, I think I got the point... It's like a technology, not man-made in this case, but nature made hahaha "natural technology"

[@PashtoNaat.]

Wow amazing ❤

[@roughroadrunner88]

That was awesome

[@TCPUDPATM]

@5:37 makes me incredibly happy. And I’m happy to pay for it.

[@fredenord2411]

What a beauty

[@KurtElliott]

We went out to the river and a Canadian Honker spotted another Canadian Honker from across the river and flew over and chase it off, the river is 400 feet wide there, we were shocked their eyes are so powerful !!!

[@raintree3383]

Canadian Honker ????

[@KurtElliott]

@@raintree3383 I guess that's why hunters always used to have a hard time getting them and they wear camouflage...

[@raintree3383]

@@KurtElliott Hi I am asking what is a Canadian Honker ? I am Canadian and never heard that before....do you mean Geese or maybe Ducks ?

[@KeithFlint350]

3:41 now THAT'S beautiful

[@marcnangelu]

Beautiful creature ❤

[@mbunds]

Now THIS is a great application for A.I.!

[@dizzy1369]

So awesome

[@titusmkandawire5661]

Incredible, the flying object detector AI is amazing!

[@jdesirleo425]

'Spotted' ? May be & may not & may be partially. Sense of smell ? Sense of feel & hearing ? Commentator mentioned! Seems the Eagle is able to establish wind flow pattern & directional & intensity of the wind current. Overall, so lovely to see the reunion of the Eagle & Lloyd

[@activate-motivation]

So well made my goshhhh nyc

[@twelve-gatesii6056]

Excellent 👍🏾

[@matimus100]

Ok brown thumb

[@LHTkayaksport]

fascinating, not only with the bird, vision, and science but with the AI as well!

[@johannesaskehov]

Agreed, this contained more information than I expected.

[@FrankDaBank25]

I think you mean CGI but yeah it was great

[@Mienarrr]

such gorgeous animals :)

[@vivian3829]

Wuauuu!!!! 😮😮 que maravilloso vuelo y una visión perfecta👌👌🤗me parese fascinante el tema de las aves me cautivan por su perfección de vuelo y visión. Y fantástico que hayan logrado de alguna forma manejar de forma adecuada el tema de los molinos de viento con respecto a las aves. Realmente un gran avance tecnológico par proteger su vuelos 👌👌😉😉

[@3winanimal]

¡Qué interesante comentario! Estoy totalmente de acuerdo en que el vuelo de las aves es algo realmente asombroso y fascinante. Además, es muy positivo que se esté prestando más atención a la protección de las aves en el entorno de los molinos de viento y que se estén desarrollando soluciones tecnológicas para evitar su impacto en su vuelo. Esperemos que este tipo de avances sigan mejorando la convivencia entre la tecnología y la vida silvestre.

[@KeithFlint350]

I like this truck! :D

[@cmrdecc6516]

I'd ❤️ to do this for a living

[@bibekbhattarai6281]

Why is there no electrcity in the town? Le Robot: There is an eagle flying high in the hills.

[@alemayehumammo2261]

Amazing

[@Kobekola]

Fun fact: there is no limit on eyes. We can see anything as long as it is A) not obstructed B) reflecting enough light and as long as we are not blind or with poor vision. But we arent able to process everything we see in detail. We can see stars light years away, we can see the surface of the moon, etc.

[@wcrimeusa88]

The natural world never ceases to amaze with its incredible abilities. The superpowered vision of eagles is a testament to the marvels of evolution and adaptation in the animal kingdom.

[@dvfgtken]

a testament to intelligent design and the living God

[@Dr.IanPlect]

@@dvfgtken Your reply is merely testament to your own unevidenced mythological beliefs.

[@pic18f452]

@@Dr.IanPlect True, it is remarkable that through the marvels of evolution where sand eroded stones, for millions of years, to design this phone that we communicate through. marvelous!

[@Dr.IanPlect]

@@pic18f452 tripe

[@nikola9582]

@@Dr.IanPlect As to yours too.

[@ellamez7876]

Wow amazing 😮

[@Stikasasn]

It still astonishes me how big they are compared to how little they weigh. lol

[@TucsonDude]

@M.C. Aren't ALL bones hollow to a degree?

[@puppergump4117]

@@TucsonDude Oh no philosophy

[@gentx2160]

They eat deep fried boneless chickens. I guess.

[@climbjt]

I’d love to go “wheelin” in Scotland

[@sohaildiverlatestfishingvi8273]

Wow

[@kikkop2292]

eagles are for me the most legendary animals

[@Jackfromstatefarm]

3:44 that goes hard

[@seplayer]

What I would find interesting is the question if the eagle really can see that far or if it is just more like a sense in his view.

[@julianaylor4351]

Nature is awesome. ❤️

[@bimal-hu1sn]

Beautiful 👍

[@matimus100]

Roman thumb nonsense

[@Ceylonelephantroad]

beautiful video like it

[@gordonmiles9995]

I was just comparing eyesight's with an eagle the other day. He could see further than me. And he said he was telling the BBC that he could

[@abuibu]

4:09 The guy in green is so excited by his eagle hear him shout, he has lost sense of personal space.

[@1969kodiakbear]

You clever bird. By the way, I have difficulty communicating because I had a stroke in Broca’s area, the part of the brain that controls speech. 2/8/2021 but I lived again. (My wife helped me compose this.)

[@szilvijuhasz]

At 5:47 is an early relative of Wall-E, looking out for Eagles! ❤

[@dailypray7459]

2:24 😮 great guys .. eagles eyes strong ...

[@user-xl5hv6li3y]

Last vid clip represents a human made engle eye where it can be better than that, how powerful the creation going and connected to everything

[@vidyadharpathak3078]

Yeah ! It's incredible and wonderful !

[@cindystechschulte1487]

Cool vehicle

[@misterkami2]

I’m wondering if s high pitched sound coming from a turnine wouldn’t be a cheaper way to avoid bird collisions. After all, if the don’t see the turbine, they can still hit it when it’s not turning

[@Ace_of_hearts1]

Eagle has already 100× zoom before samsung s23 ultra 😂

[@mustafaisilar4466]

I was so astonished when I saw wind turbines which they shut down when they detect bird who can fly. This is such a friendly environment technology that every company must include themselves.

[@puppergump4117]

They should just go nuclear, that's the only environmentally friendly energy maker

[@mustafaisilar4466]

@@puppergump4117 When I saw your message, I was so astonished that I thought you were crazy or something like that. Because, nuclear energy affected so badly to environment, like hiroshima. And unfortunately none of plants or animals cannot live in these areas due to reason of nuclear, as loads of bad particulates spread to these areas. Also some countries,like Germany, are try to close nuclear energy due to these reasons.

[@puppergump4117]

@@mustafaisilar4466 Well nuclear energy is one of the cleanest sources of energy. It's just so efficient because the nuclear part is just for generating heat. That heat is transferred to water, which uses a steam powered turbine to get the electricity. There's almost no biproduct from this. And remember, nuclear power sources can last centuries. They're used in aircraft carriers and some giant subs because of this. And the people that work on those don't get irradiated because they have competent people taking care of things.

[@Zero-ok4xg]

@@mustafaisilar4466 Nuclear energy is different from a nuclear bomb I think. What happened in Hiroshima isn't because of a powerplant, its because of America dropping a bomb to wipe out the entire landscape. Nuclear energy is actually incredibly efficient and clean to the environment. Some countries like France have over 70% of their energy sourced by nuclear energy. It's a shame nuclear energy gets a stigma of being bad for the environment and scary because of nuclear bombs considering how much better it is than coal or really any other alternative.

[@_egghead]

Nuclear is cleanest source of energy, it is only harmful when leaked but that can be mitigated also. Just imagine how much carbon we leak from coals and fuels everyday compared to a fully secured nuclear that will last a century.

[@qinaan]

Today I found the answer to my question how eagle can directly stare at the sun without closing its eyelids.

[@eman610]

I wonder if the animals that are typically eagles prey, have evolved to learn to hide near wind turbines to use them as a defense from being captured.

[@footfault1941]

That's the way high-tech should come to their/our rescue! Glad to see that!

[@gecko86]

Burung elang itu sangat tajam sekali penglihatannya

[@NoSuffix]

Very considerate! However, isn't it more productive to install loudspeakers on top of wind turbines to play some kind of warning sound instead of shutting down turbines when eagles are spotted in the area?

[@JoeR203]

It's not going to happen in my lifetime, but when the day comes where doctors can transplant a complete eye, people are going to want to have eagle eyes for real.

[@49nishant28]

I already have

[@paulodrca]

maybe the wings as well, then they can fly to Greggs

[@hi.2128]

i will have eyes of an eagle soon.

[@soey.carter4126]

We don’t know if the eagle spotted him as soon as it got out of the cage or a few hundred yards down the line. It’s hard to say how far she really spotted him from.

[@marvinsinclair9245]

Nice 👍

[@jpdj2715]

It's not the doubling of cones per square millimetre that explains the superior vision. We know from human perception and photography that what counts is "linear" comparison and if we double the area resolution, then we get on SQRT(2) linear improvement. This is why we measure optical resolution (AKA sharpness) in linePairs per millimetre (since "ages"). In a digital camera, each photosite is scanned individually and each contributes to resolution. In the human eye, in the retina, cones are connected as vectors or lines, in what we see. We could call that a form of lossy data compression. At the cone level we may have 120 MegaCone resolution, but loads of cones being on one nerve reduces that by a lot. From the 120 per eye we may end up with 6 or less for combined eyes. Because we see in "live view" and also derive information from subsequent "images" or "frames" in movie/photography terms, the resulting apparent resolution is perceived as higher. The important point here is the optical nerve. In the human case, it is very thin relative to the diameter of the retina. Simply put, we need to learn to deal with that vector information and our brains process visual information accordingly. In short distances, our auditive brain is much faster than our visual. If we then compare with these raptor birds, AFAIK, they have each individual cone connected into the brain. This changes image processing from lossy compressed vector data of humans into lossless bitmap data - in IT terms. As the MegaCone resolution is twice as high, and the losses are zero, these birds end up in the Giga resolution of two eyes combined, rather than a measly dozen or less in humans. The implication of a very thick optical nerve, potentially with the diameter of the retina, is that the eyes cannot move in their sockets and these birds need to turn their heads around instead. Which they do.

[@gentx2160]

Shouting and waving non-stop . Not hard to find!

[@operatorpagal1448]

Please provide us the full show of The planet by Brian cox it didn't available in India

[@beardrn]

It would have been nice to continue the experiment till the point of failure. Perhaps standing the participant 4km, 6km, 8km, 10+km away. Until we hit a sweet spot where the eagle can no longer see it's owner and aimlessly flies about. In these repeat experiments, it would be nice if the man doesn't make noise or motion (waving).

[@A.E.Lanman777]

That little robot is using more power then its helping make.

[@klenner]

``If they spot an eagle they turn the turbines off`` Truly an alternative reliable source of power

[@davidturnage3467]

Was wondering if anyone was going to mention what immediately came to my mind. Just shows how little wind power is actually relied on. If it was an integral part of the grid, no way could they turn it off! Just imagine being at work, on your computer, then suddenly losing everything due to a loss of power, due to a potential bird strike miles away.

[@recurrenTopology]

@@davidturnage3467 The power from a single source is never entirely reliable. This is particularly true from wind and solar, but is even the case for none internment sources like conventional hydrocarbon based powerplants where unplanned technical issues can disrupt production. It's how power sources are integrated which determines grid reliability, and while more is needed to maintain reliability with intermittent sources (storage, dispatchable generation, larger distribution of sources, etc.), if integrated properly grid reliability need not suffer.

[@puppergump4117]

What he said, basically it doesn't matter if your charger is unplugged, you can still use your phone because it has some battery left.

[@shimronnetia]

It took an indirect route because of the wind

[@Koudey]

What if right after the bird takes off, the professor guy turns off his radio?

[@robertbennett848]

Sooo he can see the bird and yell at it but he is surprised that the bird saw him?

[@gentx2160]

Exactly! Hilarious!

[@Needalex]

4:07 the guy as so poor vision he has to be half a inch away from you to see you

[@dylancates5965]

they both have fantastic vision, but I always thought the phrase was “eyes like a hawk” or “Hawkeye”. Never heard eagle eyes

[@cheegum6296]

Curious how bad would it be to install ultrasonic whistles on turbine blades?

[@RoGamg]

My guru Mr. Udham jee has also got a great eyesight

[@QueenSavage1030]

Is this Dr.strange talking about PWingwins?

[@cybertones942]

I see things on timber floors that I try to point out to others and they don’t see it lol even my boss who’s done it over 20 years. Eyes are just trained to see scratch patters sanding floors but my eye sight is normal or less then normal since my eyes are dry a lot from weed smoking