Ducks eyes

[take money]

If ducks eyes, and many other animals eyes, are on the side of their head, then do they see double vision?

[incitatus]

No. There is a limited area of stereosopic vision, which is processed much as ours is, but their world perception seems to act much like a panoramic cinema

[babthrower]

It is probably similar to our vision: you can focus on a nearby object, and the background is fuzzy and ignored, or you can focus on the distant field. The same light rays are entering your eye/brain system, but the brain determines which image is perceived. So at rest the duck may be looking at 'nothing', but if it detects movement in a field of vision not 'covered' by both eyes, it will focus its attention on the field of vision of the eye that detects the motion. Insects, which have compound eyes, and which theoretically have hundreds of inputs to the nervous system, may react differently. An image (of movement, say) in even one eye may trigger a flight response. It's unlikely they have enough integrated nerve tissue to 'see' the entire field as we do. A patch of colour (or ultraviolet) may attract them towards a habitual food by a similar reflex. They are so alien it is hard to imagine what they 'see'. In the SF movie 'The Fly', the filmmakers depicted them as perceiving an entire field simultaneously, but broken up into hexagonal parts. This is doubtful, as it would require a pretty well-developed central nervous system to integrate the hundreds of images. Still, until we can ask a fly, I guess the question will remain open.

[Carolina]

This is just a suggestion as, to be honest, I have no idea of the answer. But next time you se a duck and you give it a bit of bread try to see if it look at it straight on or if it turn its head slightly to se the bread that will answer your question!!!!