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Great cormorant vision: the science and the numbers

Phalacrocorax carbo · order Suliformes · Birds: all the numbers

The great cormorant has four colour channels, including violet (405, 449, 504 and 567 nm).[1][2][3] Its sharpest vision resolves 12.45 cycles per degree, against 63.75 for people in this dataset.[7][8] Its eyes cover about 308° with 13° seen by both eyes.[15]

See it on your photoBack to How does the great cormorant see?
  • 4colour receptor classesMeasured*
  • 12.45cycles per degree (sharpness)Measured
  • 308°field of viewMeasured*

The great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a bird in the order Suliformes. Its eyes belong to the vision type Panoramic grain-eater and wader: four cone types, low to moderate sharpness and an almost all-round field of view. Measured in this species: colour, sharpness, field of view and night vision. Measured core: measured values on at least 3 of the 6 dials.

This is a simulation built from published eye measurements, not what the animal experiences.

Method: How we know what animals see (the See Like Animals vision engine) · Sources · Last updated . Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.

What the great cormorant sees: colour receptors

Great cormorant colour receptor peaks, 300 to 700 nmGreat cormorant: 4 receptor peaks at 405, 449, 504, 567 nm; you: 3 at 421.5, 532, 558.4 nm. ultraviolet300400500600700
Great cormorant: 405, 449, 504, 567 nmPeople: 421.5, 532, 558.4 nmWavelength in nanometres

What stands out

  • It has 4 colour receptor classes; people have 3.
  • Its sharpest vision resolves 12.45 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
  • Its eyes cover about 308° around the head, with 13° seen by both eyes at once.
  • 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. The last column gives the values for people from the same catalogue.

Vision values for the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), catalogue-v1
DialValueEvidenceSourcesPeople
ColourColour receptors
4 receptor classes: 405 nm (VS/SWS (violet)), 449 nm (SWS (blue)), 504 nm (MWS (green)), 567 nm (LWS (long))
measured in this species
Measured (not re-verified)[1][2][3]Colour receptors: 3 receptor classes: 421.5 nm (VS/SWS (violet)), 532 nm (MWS (green)), 558.4 nm (LWS (long)) Measured (not re-verified)[2][4][5][6]
SharpnessAcuity
12.45 cycles per degree
median of 2 behavioural rows (method priority rule)
Measured[7][8]Acuity: 63.75 cycles per degree Measured[9][10]
Field of viewBinocular overlap
13°
median of 1 rows (eyes-at-rest rows preferred)
Measured[11]Binocular overlap: 122.5° Measured[12][13]
Total field of view: 200° Measured (not re-verified)[14]
Blind area behind the head: 160° Derived[14]
Eye placement: frontal Derived[12][13]
Total field of view
308°
measured total field
Measured (not re-verified)[15]
Sharp zones (foveas)Number of foveas
1
median of 48 relatives in class Aves: Branta canadensis, Cardinalis cardinalis, Passerina cyanea, Zenaida macroura, Cyanocitta cristata, Junco hyemalis
Group default[16][17][18]Number of foveas: 1 Measured[19]
Fovea type: fovea Measured[19]
Fovea type
single central fovea (displaced dorso-temporally from retinal centre)		Group default[16][17][18]
Night visionActivity pattern
diurnal
mode of 3 rows (of 3 rows): diurnal; not_nocturnal
Measured (not re-verified)[20][21][22]Activity pattern: diurnal Measured (not re-verified)[23][24][25][2][26][27][28][22]
Pupil shape: vertical Group default[29][30]
Reflective layer (tapetum): no Measured[31]
Rods vs cones: cone-dominated Derived[23][24][25][2][26][27][28][22]
Rods vs cones
cone-dominated
nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated
Derived[20][21][22]
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[32][33][34][35][36]Flicker fusion frequency: 60 Hz Measured[34][35]

All birds side by side: Birds: every measurement. Method: how we know what animals see.

Sources

  1. Lind et al. 2014
  2. Longcore 2023
  3. Murphy et al. 2022
  4. Kirwan
  5. Müller et al. 2009
  6. Thermal Activation and Photoactivation of Visual… 2004
  7. Caves et al. 2018
  8. Caves et al. 2024
  9. Kirk et al. 2004
  10. Veilleux et al. 2014
  11. Tyrrell et al. 2017
  12. Heesy 2004
  13. Heffner et al. 1992
  14. Campbell & Green 1965
  15. Pecsics et al. 2023
  16. Moore et al. 2017
  17. Potier et al. 2017
  18. Rodrigues et al. 2026
  19. Kopania et al. 2025
  20. Light conditions and the evolution of…
  21. Wilman et al. 2014
  22. Moura et al. 2024
  23. Anderson et al. 2017
  24. Borges et al. 2018
  25. Wilman et al. 2014
  26. Maor et al. 2017
  27. Jones et al. 2009
  28. Schmitz et al. 2011
  29. Banks et al. 2015
  30. Cervino et al. 2021
  31. Guareschi et al. 2025
  32. Boström et al. 2016
  33. Haarlem et al. 2026
  34. Healy et al. 2013
  35. Inger et al. 2014
  36. Lafitte et al. 2022

Every value cites its sources (all sources). Values were extracted from these works and converted (units, medians, derived values); changes are ours, and the listed sources do not endorse this site. Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this? Method: how we know.