[Dragaera] night vision

[Howard Brazee]

Diana wrote:
>> So how does the *race* behave?   As predators or scavengers?
>>     
>
> Do the two have to be mutually exclusive? A number of earth predators
> will scavenge, if the opportunity presents itself, and many scavengers
> don't wait until their meal is completely dead to move in.
>
> Plus, as was pointed out while I was writing the above, there's also
> been some modification to the species in terms of increased
> intelligence and who knows what else. (Was the poison originally
> present, or is it an added design feature?) But whether the tweaking
> enhanced the predatory or scavenger behaviors, I don't think it's
> unreasonable to think that both could have easily existed in the
> unmodified jhereg.
> _______________________________________________
>   
Certainly.   Hyenas are thought of as scavengers, but they are strong 
predators with eyes in front of their heads.

Birds have a stronger need to have binocular vision - with it important 
to not crash into their prey nor into their landing spots.   But if that 
bird is primarily prey, eyes on the side are worth more.   Robins prey 
on worms, turning their heads sideways to see them (people mistakenly 
think they are listening).   But they are also prey to other animals 
while they are doing this.

Vultures eat on the ground, making them vulnerable.

Birds that attack targets on the ground and bring them back to eat have 
binocular vision.

A compromise bird is the seagull.