Eagles are incredibly fast, clever and remarkable hunting birds. They can spot their prey from a great distance and also have the ability to fly at a very high altitude. Eagles also have a very sharp vision. For good eyesight, having clean eyes is very essential. Just as humans clean their eyes by blinking, eagles also do the same. Have you ever seen any picture of an eagle’s eyelids? Probably not! So, the question remains, how do eagles blink? To investigate this, some people used expensive camera setups to witness how eagles blink.
Recently, a video was shared on Instagram, which shows a team of researchers studying how eagles blink. The eyelids of humans are visible and they can blink easily but eagle eyelids are not easily noticeable. In this video, three researchers can be seen using an expensive camera set up to capture the bird’s blinking process.
As seen in the viral video, an eagle is placed in front of the camera and a woman, possibly the owner of the eagle, is standing just next to it. When the video plays at a normal speed it is very hard to spot the blink. After watching it in slow motion, they were amazed. A thin white-coloured layer was seen in the video which acts as eyelids for the birds and helps them to keep their eyes clean.
The video went viral soon after it was shared, garnering more than 21 lakh views. It was also liked by more than 1.5 lakh users. Several users commented on the video. One user commented, “Not only eagles but most of the birds blink like that only,” while another user wrote, “For anyone wondering, that is known as the nictitating membrane, essentially a transparent eyelid. It is function is to protect and clean the eye of dust particles and other debris.” A third user commented, “Most of the birds do the same to clean their eyes.”
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