Wednesday, October 25, 2006

So "Bird Brain" may not be an Insult!

If you could magically transform yourself into an animal for an hour or so - a once in a lifetime thing just to see how that animal experiences the world - would you do it? I've always thought I'd want to try being a bird and be able to soar above the earth to see how much it feels like my flying dreams. But a recent article in Parade magazine gave me one more reason to think it would be cool to see through a bird's eyes for just a little while:
For the best sight, we need a bird'’s-eye view. Some birds have at least four types of color receptors. "“We can'’t possibly imagine how incredibly colorful the world is to birds'’ eyes,"” says Scott Lanyon, professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. "“For every color that we perceive, birds can see multiple distinct colors. Relative to birds, we humans are all color-blind."”
Of course it might be hard to go back to being virtually color-blind after that, but still, what an experience that would be! What about you - if you answered yes to the first question in this post, what animal would you want to become for an hour and why? Here's today's Daily Art Thang: "Autumn Shadow" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window)