The Hawk Star is based on the science of Bird Vision

Birds of prey have very keen eyesight.

They locate and distinguish

prey from a great distance.

This specialized vision to detect prey during flight, along with powerful talons and beaks, puts small dogs at large risk for bird attacks.

Large raptors will routinely attack animals that weigh up to 20 pounds as part of a hunt. Many birds of prey will attack even larger animals if the bird feels its nest or young is threatened.

 SOURCE: THE SPRUCE

Although dogs heavier than 20 pounds cannot physically be picked up by most birds of prey, small dogs are often harmed or killed by birds attempting to take them.

"... predator avoidance is not just a matter of background matching,  ... we need to take (into) account both visual and cognitive processes (Guilford & Dawkins 1991; Stevens & Cuthill 2006). 

Prey can be detected by their body outline, which is extracted by edge-detecting neurons. Disruptive coloration may have evolved because it confuses the 

edge-detectors, making computational inferences about prey shape difficult if not impossible (Osorio & Srinivasan 1991; Stevens & Cuthill 2006). 

Edges in natural scenes produce various kinds of luminance and chromatic gradients. False gradients are common in animal colour patterns, leading to misleading appearance of shape, even when they do not disrupt the body outline" (Thayer 1909)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1634903/  

"...if you are a visual predator searching for the specific shape of a beetle (or other prey animal), iridescence makes it difficult for predators to identify them 

as something edible." 

"...it seems iridescence in animals is a form of disruptive coloration camouflage, wherein the constantly changing color and intensity of iridescence makes it difficult for the viewer to see a stable border, and thus recognize the shape. For potential predators, 

it could be downright confusing."

"It's the first solid evidence we have that this type of colouration can be used in this way,”

says the paper’s first author, 

Dr Karin Kjernsmo 

of the 

University of Bristol's

 School of Biological Sciences.

Forbes.com

Animals which appear to shimmer and shine may have evolved these qualities as a way to startle predators.

New research suggests. iridescent animals, such as kingfishers, peacocks and  dragonflies, can produce a mesmerising display of colour depending on the angle of illumination or observation. However, until now there has been limited scientific understanding of the function of 

iridescence and why this quality, known as

 'interference colouration', has evolved 

independently several times in insects 

 such as beetles and butterflies. 

In a new study, published in the scientific journal Biology Letters, Dr Thomas Pike, a behavioural and sensory ecologist at the University of Lincoln, UK, suggests that for some organisms, iridescence evolved as a way to confuse predators. By producing startling changes in colour and brightness, the animal is able to briefly surprise a potential predator, increasing its chance of escape.  https://phys.org/news/2015-04-iridescent-animals-startle-predators.html 

  The ability to disorient is a 

powerful weapon.

In nature, animals use startle behavior to scare predators in order to survive.

 These startle displays are called deimatic behavior — deimatic meaning ‘to frighten.’ 

 http://www.eartharchives.org/articles/shock-and-awe-the-animal-kingdom-s-stunning-displays/ 

 "We test a counterintuitive hypothesis 

 the function of iridescence: that it

 can act as camouflage through

 interference with object recognition. 

 We conclude that iridescence produces visual signals that can confuse potential predators, and this might explain the high frequency of iridescence in many animal taxa.  The brightness of iridescence may make (varying) parts of objects more conspicuous, but the changing colour patterns and boundaries could also deceive and confuse potential predators. 

This effect might be particularly acute in animals that lack the extensive upstream processing characteristic of the primate visual cortex." Scientific Reports

 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-26571-6 

We would like to thank world renown master falconer, Tom Smylie,

 for his expert consulting 

during the creation process. 

Tom is both a mentor and friend 

as well as a champion and hero 

for the beauty in our skies. 

He is one of the two people "...responsible for the recovery of the peregrine species after pesticide and DDT poisoning pushed them to the brink of extinction. Smylie and Bond were among the first to breed peregrines in captivity and both were founders of the The Peregrine Fund , 

helping to get the falcons off the 

Endangered Species List in 1999."

"To me, the skies would be 

empty without them," Tom Smylie

New Mexico Wildlife

Wildlife.State.NM.US Vol 53.  No 4- Winter 2008-2009 by Tania Soussian. Photo by Dan Williams