How does the goosander see?
The goosander (Mergus merganser) is a bird in the order Anseriformes. Its eyes belong to the vision type Panoramic grain-eater and wader.
Measured in this species: field of view and night vision. One measured dial: a value other than colour or sharpness is measured in this species; colour and sharpness are not measured here. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
See your photo as the goosanderThis species is part of the full catalogue in the tool (full unlock). Your photo stays on your device.
What stands out
- It has 4 colour receptor classes; people have 3.
- Its sharpest vision resolves 10.8 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- Its eyes cover about 306° around the head, with 28° seen by both eyes at once.
- It stops seeing flicker at 88.5 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about 1.5 times slower to it.[12][13]
- Activity pattern: diurnal.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 4 receptor classes: 417.5 nm (VS/SWS (violet)), 452 nm (SWS (blue)), 501 nm (MWS (green)), 570 nm (LWS (long)) receptor set of nearest measured relative Anas platyrhynchos (same family Anatidae) | Estimated | [1][2] |
| Sharpness | Acuity 10.8 cycles per degree median of 1 relatives in genus Mergus: Mergus serrator | Estimated | [3] |
| Field of view | Binocular overlap 28° median of 1 rows (eyes-at-rest rows preferred) | Measured (not re-verified) | [4] |
| Total field of view 306° measured total field | Measured (not re-verified) | [4] | |
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 1 median of 1 relatives in family Anatidae: Branta canadensis | Estimated | [5] |
| Fovea type single central fovea (displaced dorso-temporally from retinal centre) | Estimated | [5] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern diurnal mode of 4 rows (of 4 rows): cathemeral; diurnal; not_nocturnal; photopic | Measured (not re-verified) | [6][7][8][9] |
| Rods vs cones cone-dominated nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated | Derived | [6][7][8][9] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 88.5 Hz median of 17 relatives in class Aves: Bubo virginianus, Melopsittacus undulatus, Passer domesticus, Taeniopygia guttata, Columba livia, Calypte anna | Group default | [10][11][12][13][14] |
Related animals
- Canada goose same vision type
- Mallard same vision type
- Greater scaup same vision type
- Lesser scaup same vision type
- Northern shoveler same vision type
- American black duck same vision type
More birds: all birds with measured vision data.
Sources
- Lind O, Mitkus M, Olsson P, Kelber A. 2014. Ultraviolet vision in birds: the importance of transparent eye media. Proc R Soc B 281:20132209. Table 1. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.2209
- Longcore T. 2023. A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting. Basic Appl Ecol 73:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2023.09.002. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8432720
- Caves EM, Brandley NC, Johnsen S (2018) Visual acuity and the evolution of signals. Trends Ecol Evol 33:358-372. Supplementary Tables S1-S3.. doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.001
- Pecsics T, Csorgo T. 2023. Ornis Hungarica 31(2):110-124. doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2023-0023
- Moore BA, Tyrrell LP, Pita D, Bininda-Emonds ORP, Fernandez-Juricic E 2017. Does retinal configuration make the head and eyes of foveate birds move? Sci Rep 7: 38406. Appendix 1.. doi.org/10.1038/srep38406
- Light conditions and the evolution of the visual system in birds (figshare dataset, SupplementaryDataset1). doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.22116371.v3
- Wilman H, Belmaker J, Simpson J, de la Rosa C, Rivadeneira MM, Jetz W. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027. BirdFuncDat.txt. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- Schmitz L, Motani R. 2011. Science 332:705-708, SOM. doi.org/10.1126/science.1200043
- Moura et al. 2024. A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases. PLoS Biol 22:e3002658. TetrapodTraits v3.0.1.. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22536349
- Boström JE, Dimitrova M, Canton C, Håstad O, Qvarnström A, Ödeen A. 2016. Ultra-rapid vision in birds. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0151099. S1 Table. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151099
- Haarlem CS, Hynes C, Jackson AL, Mitchell KJ, O'Connell RG, Healy K. 2026. Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom. Nature Ecology & Evolution (doi:10.1038/s41559-026-02994-7). Figshare dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
- Lafitte A, Sordello R, Legrand M, Nicolas V, Obein G, Reyjol Y. 2022. A flashing light may not be that flashy: A systematic review on critical fusion frequencies. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279718. S10 File (CFF database). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279718
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?