Specialized Brain Hemispheres Provide More Efficiency

From Scientific American:

If you are trying to predict a magpie's next move, just look into its eyes. A June 15 study in Brain Research Bulletin found that when these birds view a potential predator, they use either their left or right eye, depending on whether they intend to run away or move closer. These findings reveal clues about how the brain segregates information between its hemispheres. Neuroscientist Lesley Rogers and her colleagues at the University of New England in Australia observed wild Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) in the presence of a stuffed monitor lizard. Rogers found that before fleeing, birds would fixate on the "predator" with their left eye--which sends nearly all its input to the right side of the brain.

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