Cone cells in the eyes provide color vision and acuity. Some hawk eyes have five times more cones per square inch than human eyes. Eyes of owls and other nocturnal birds are especially densely packed with rod cells to see better in low light. Cats are another animal that need terrific eye sight. Select this text to learn how cats in general see the world.
Many birds show remarkable, specialized hearing abilities.
So fine-tuned is the hearing of guinea fowl and water fowl that they have been used as watchdogs throughout history. A Barn Owl can detect, locate, and home in on a tiny mouse by sound alone - from half a block away. Barn Owls tell where faint sounds are coming from by measuring differences in how long sounds take to reach each ear. For example, sound coming from your left is louder and arrives earlier to your left ear than to your right. Select this text if you would like to learn a little about how well another animal, the cat, can hear.