Eyesight

[cfulhage]

This is probably a dumb question, so...at the risk of sounding stupid:

What is a parrot's eyesight like in the dark? Can they see about the same as us, better/worse than us? Ollie always seems tense when we walk into a dark room before I turn the light on, and I'm guessing its simply because she can't see.

[Monica]

I am not sure about that, though it might vary from bird to bird... actually, I can't really say.

All my birds used to freak out when they heard a noise at night, but they've gotten so used to it that night frights are normally few and far between.

In truth, I can actually handle Noel quite well at night! If I put my hand in front of her in total darkness, she either looks for it with her beak or uses her foot. Once she has 'found' my hand, she will step up with both feet. I then can remove her and touch her and give kisses to her. If I want to set her down, I just put her in front of a perch and using her beak, she seaks it out until she finds it! Of course she is the only one I can handle this well at night!

Casey, well she'll tolerate it... but she really hates it when I disturb her beauty sleep! She'll have the BIGGEST fit imaginable! LOL

[Alika]

Since parrots are diurnal and don't need to see well in the dark, I'm guessing that their eyesight is about the same as ours in the dark. My own birds will jump at me if I walk past their cages in the dark... I can only assume it's because they can't see me and don't know who I am. They will also step up in the dark or near dark, but only after feeling my hand with their beak and hearing me say 'step-up'. It's not quite as clear to them what I want without the visual cue, I guess.

[TooLover]

When we take the fids to the vet's for their "grooming", the vet turns the lights off to towel the macaws. He says they can't see well at all in the dark and gives him the advantage of toweling them!

[wildirish]

I agree, I don't think they see very well at night, some of ours "flip" out if you walk out here at night.

Hey Laurie, I just realized that avatar was taken here...LOL!!!! That toy lasted a whole 10 minutes!!!

[cfulhage]

Well I figured as much. Ollie doesn't seem to get night frights, but I do greet her quietly when I walk by her cage in the dark so she knows it's me. I haven't really handled her in complete darkness before, so I don't know how she would respond. That might be something to try out sometime, in case of a tornado and no electricity. I should probably get her used to flash lights shining near her as well. Wow, I never thought about all that.

Laurie- that makes sense, and seems like the best way to wrangle a macaw into a towel!