Weird effect on bird's eye: anyone know what causes it?

I was trying out RAW burst mode on my R6II today (I've used it on my R7, but not the R6II until today) on a largish black bird in the neighborhood. I'm not good with bird ID, so all I can say is that's it's a crow, raven, or rook (or maybe even something else). I really like the RAW burst feature, but I did get this weird effect with the bird's eyes on some (a bit under half) of the images. Here's what I'm talking about:

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Weird

Normal

Weird

Normal

Weird

Anyone have any idea what's going on here? Is it connected with e-shutter (RAW burst mode exclusively uses e-shutter)? Do birds (some at least) have a sort of film that sometimes covers their eyes? It's actually kind of a cool effect, and makes the bird look extra ominous.

MattiasR wrote:

Congratulations, you photographed a bird blinking

Really? So its eyelid is blue? That is pretty cool looking. I would have thought that the closed eyelid would be black. If it is blinking, it's not surprising that I would get a few like that. The RAW burst mode is 30 fps. But it seems like I got a lot like that. Do these birds blink a lot?

Or maybe you're joking? I know so little about birds that I can't really tell.

It looks to me like the nictitating membrane closing over the eye as the bird blinks.  I suggest you identify the bird positively then do a quick search on "bird name nictitating membrane".

Many, perhaps all birds, certainly in Australia, possess such a membrane as protection against dust and damage to the cornea.  I'm sure it is not limited to Terra Australis Incognita.

MattiasR wrote:

Congratulations, you photographed a bird blinking

Itchy crow eyes.  Extra eyelid membrane that blinks separate from the outer eyelid, I assume.

I've got tons of hummingbirds with blinks as well.  Normal.  This one was funky:

MarkDavo wrote:

It looks to me like the nictitating membrane closing over the eye as the bird blinks. I suggest you identify the bird positively then do a quick search on "bird name nictitating membrane".

Many, perhaps all birds, certainly in Australia, possess such a membrane as protection against dust and damage to the cornea. I'm sure it is not limited to Terra Australis Incognita.

Thanks. Yes, it looks more like a membrane than an actual eyelid. I just looked it up with Google photos, and it's a common raven. And yes, it does have a blue nictitating membrane. There are lots of photos online just like it. It protects the eye from dust and other debris. Apparently, we used to have one too, and the little red nub in the corner of our eyes is the vestige of it.

Darn birds. Yet another way to mess up our photos

But yeah; odds are if you tried to get a shot of that you never would. Does look quite eerie.

I also concure with MarkDavo, it's the nictitating membrane.  You will see this on many bird images.  Nice images too.

As others have mentioned it is the nictitating membrane on the bird's eye.  Kine of a 2nd eyelid.   Nice timing to get this on the shot.  As another poster above said, you caught it blinking.

Jeff

Brian D3300 wrote:

I've got tons of hummingbirds with blinks as well. Normal. This one was funky:

BIGGEST DARN HUMMINGBIRD I’VE EVER SEEN!!

Birds have two eyelids, upper and lower. Birds active during daytime hours raise the lower lid when closing their eye, and nocturnal birds close the upper lid. But birds also have a translucent nictitating membrane, sometimes called a “third eyelid”. This membrane closes across the eye from front to back.

Looks like you caught the nictitating membrane.

I believe you have caught the bird with it's 3rd eyelid over the eye. All birds have a "third eyelid" which is a translucent cover that they can cause to cover the eye as a protective device.

Alastair Norcross wrote:

I was trying out RAW burst mode on my R6II today (I've used it on my R7, but not the R6II until today) on a largish black bird in the neighborhood. I'm not good with bird ID, so all I can say is that's it's a crow, raven, or rook (or maybe even something else). I really like the RAW burst feature, but I did get this weird effect with the bird's eyes on some (a bit under half) of the images. Here's what I'm talking about:

Normal

Weird

Normal

Weird

Normal

Weird

Anyone have any idea what's going on here? Is it connected with e-shutter (RAW burst mode exclusively uses e-shutter)? Do birds (some at least) have a sort of film that sometimes covers their eyes? It's actually kind of a cool effect, and makes the bird look extra ominous.

For me, it kind of kills an otherwise great shot. Once in a while, my first pick will happen to be one that is blinking...

So I'll go to the shot before or after, and use it to clone in a wide open eye 🙂 It's pretty easy, and typically pulls it off in a way that is 100% undetectable 🙂👍

Chris Wolfgram wrote:

Alastair Norcross wrote:

I was trying out RAW burst mode on my R6II today (I've used it on my R7, but not the R6II until today) on a largish black bird in the neighborhood. I'm not good with bird ID, so all I can say is that's it's a crow, raven, or rook (or maybe even something else). I really like the RAW burst feature, but I did get this weird effect with the bird's eyes on some (a bit under half) of the images. Here's what I'm talking about:

Normal

Weird

Normal

Weird

Normal

Weird

Anyone have any idea what's going on here? Is it connected with e-shutter (RAW burst mode exclusively uses e-shutter)? Do birds (some at least) have a sort of film that sometimes covers their eyes? It's actually kind of a cool effect, and makes the bird look extra ominous.

For me, it kind of kills an otherwise great shot. Once in a while, my first pick will happen to be one that is blinking...

So I'll go to the shot before or after, and use it to clone in a wide open eye 🙂 It's pretty easy, and typically pulls it off in a way that is 100% undetectable 🙂👍

Well, luckily, I got so many shots both with and without the membrane that I don’t need to do that. When the camera is shooting 30fps you’re pretty much guaranteed to get plenty with both looks. Having said that, I actually think the blue eye look is kind of cool. It makes the bird look possessed.

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