Eye and head movements shape gaze shifts in Indian peafowl.
Animals selectively direct their visual attention toward relevant aspects of their environments. They can shift their attention using a combination of eye, head and body movements. While we have a growing understanding of eye and head movements in mammals, we know little about these processes in birds. We therefore measured the eye and head movements of freely behaving Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) using a telemetric eye-tracker. Both eye and head movements contributed to gaze changes in peafowl. When gaze shifts were smaller, eye movements played a larger role than when gaze shifts were larger. The duration and velocity of eye and head movements were positively related to the size of the eye and head movements, respectively. In addition, the coordination of eye and head movements in peafowl differed from that in mammals; peafowl exhibited a near-absence of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, which may partly result from the peafowl's ability to move their heads as quickly as their eyes.
Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA Animal Behavior Graduate Group and Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA jyorzinski@purdue.edu.
Jessica L
JL
Yorzinski
Animal Behavior Graduate Group and Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Gail L
GL
Patricelli
Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA Marketing Department, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Michael L
ML
Platt
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.
Michael F
MF
Land
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D046094:Galliformes / Q000502:physiology*; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012027:Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology
Eye movement; Eye tracking; Fixation; Pavo cristatus; Saccade; Vestibulo-ocular reflex