Look into my eyes...

Following my 'Sparrowhawk Snap' posting last week, I realised that thing I hadn't shown you was a rear view of a Sparrowhawk.

Come to think about it, it's not very often that you see photos of wildlife - or humans for that matter - taken from behind. We always want to be able to see into the eyes to feel that we've had a proper encounter, that we've indeed been face to face.

But I did want to show you a Sparrowhawk Derriere (in my pond, of course!), because what many of the guide books don't mention is that many have two white blobs on the back of the head.

Now look at the photo with your eyes squinted. Can you see what it looks like? Eyes. Bright eyes!

The thinking is that, because Sparrowhawks are quite small birds of prey, when they are sat in a bush or on the ground, they are often mobbed by angry birds such as Jays and Magpies. Those attackers, if they get the chance, will go for the Sparrowhawk's eyes, hitting them where they are most vulnerable. A Sparrowhawk with damaged eyes is doomed.

So it makes sense for the Sparrowhawk to have false eyes on the back of its head. That way, anything behind the Sparrowhawk thinks it is already looking at them, and any birds that dare to strike may attack the wrong 'eyes'.

You see it in butterflies, too - false eyes that may intially scare an attacker, but if that doesn't work and your attacker goes for the strike, you just lose a bit of wing instread, such as this Speckled Wood with clear bird-peck damage. The 'eyes' even have a 'catch light' in them, like real eyes do.

But I have to say this is my favourite - a photo I took a few years ago of the wing of an Emperor Moth. Or is it a snake's head, complete with nostril...? Amazing!