I saw an explanation of this once but I can't really remember it. Something about the way their eyes or ears work, and doing this gives them like… more information on what they are looking at.

[–] Jaytreeman@kbin.social 71 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Ears are good at hearing left and right. Not very good at hearing up and down. Tilting the head gives left right and up and down.
FYI owls have ears that are offset so they don't have to tilt their head.

[–] Deme@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This.

Also applies to the eyes sort of, as tilting the head offers a different axis for the stereo vision to try to make sense of whatever it's looking at.

IIRC, animals often do this movement instinctually when they're puzzled by something because the additional sensory information could be helpful.

[–] GnomeKat@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago

I definitely do this too and I am fine being included in "animals" in this description

[–] Ddhuud@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

TIL that about owls. I couldn't imagine it so I googled. Even their skulls show that offset!

[–] smollittlefrog@lemdro.id 10 points 1 year ago

Your field of view is wider than it is high. So if you look at something higher than it is wide (which many living things are) it's more centered and clearer to see.