I was looking at an overseas birding blog this morning while having a coffee, and it was about “blown eyes”, a term I hadn’t heard before. It seems to be when the pupil leaks into the iris. Is this a term used here?
I’ve recorded it once that I remember in a photo of a Great Egret, where one eye was normal, and the other had a dark area going from the pupil into the coloured area. Has anyone else seen this?
The blog writer speculated about possible causes. Does anyone have thoughts about that?
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Hi Josh,
Not so sure if this Powerful Owl’s condition fits into the category “blown eyes” or “flecks”. Asymmetric pupils can also be caused by brain damage or intraocular masses – such as a tumour. Maybe it is just the reflection of the owl’s surroundings in its cornea, but doesn’t it almost look like that there is some kind of an intraocular structure that doesn’t belong there? Maybe this owl does have some kind of a tumour in its left eye?
Cheers,
Nikolas
This reminded me of a post on Feathers and Photos forum a while ago – one of Fatih’s photos of a Powerful Owl. It’s the same condition isn’t it? http://www.fthsm.com/Galleries/Birds/Owls-and-Night-Birds/11777741_CNRbBd#!i=734193588&k=cto2c&lb=1&s=A
Regards Josh
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I am aware of two Black-necked Storks that had unusual eyes. One was observed by a number of people in the Taree area. It appeared to have one yellow iris and one dark (?brown) iris. Locals referred to it as the ‘hermaphrodite stork’ as it had one male coloured iris and one female coloured iris. I observed a female Black-necked (Satin) Stork at Roberts Creek, Woodford Island a couple of years ago. It was in the company of a banded male. The female had one yellow iris and the other appeared dark (brown) however when observed closer the iris seemed to be yellow but with red colouring as if it was damaged and covered with broken blood vessels. The male bred with a female with normal eyes and we don’t know whether it was the same bird that had the injury but that it had mended and returned to being yellow or whether he chose another female. The female with the damaged iris was observed once following the first sighting but has not been seen since the birds started to breed. Unfortunately the banded bird was killed on powerlines and the female had to raise the one nestling by herself, a feat which she did successfully achieve.
Greg Dr Greg. P. Clancy Ecologist and Wildlife Guide Coutts Crossing NSW 2460 02 66493153
Hi Damien,
That’s an interesting and different explanation for the eyes. I wonder if it is applicable to other species.
To be fair though, the person who wrote the blog is a bird photographer who was just writing about something observed, and is unlikely to have known about a recent scientific paper.
Thanks for the explanation though.
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Ahh but that blog missed out on one crucial bit of information. It is interesting that they mentioned American oystercatchers because a paper was recently published describing eye flecks as a reliable sexing method in the American black oystercatcher. In essence, females have a full eye fleck whereas males only a small one or none. Thus, it is unlikely that this is caused by injury! Details of the paper are here: Guzzetti, B. M., Talbot, S. L., Tessler, D. F., Gill, V. A., & Murphy, E. C. 2008. Secrets in the eyes of Black Oystercatchers: a new sexing technique. J. Field Orn. 79: 215-223. Damien
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Hi Carl,
Thanks for that. Interestingly, that was the site I saw this morning!
Sonja
________________________________ Cc: “birding-aus@vicnet.net.au” Sent: Friday, 20 April 2012 1:45 PM
Sonja,
Sorry, can’t help you with the cause, etc, but here are some good images of “blown eye”. Will have give bird’s eyes a closer look. http://www.mygreatsaltlake.com/2012/02/birds-with-blown-eyes/
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
Sent from my iPad
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Sonja,
Sorry, can’t help you with the cause, etc, but here are some good images of “blown eye”. Will have give bird’s eyes a closer look. http://www.mygreatsaltlake.com/2012/02/birds-with-blown-eyes/
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
Sent from my iPad
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My guess is that the condition is either a physical injury to the eye, mutation, or atrophy (degeneration) of the iris. Iris atrophy is a rare condition, which can be caused by sexually-transmitted diseases or extreme malnutrition.
Dr Stephen Ambrose Ryde NSW