We humans customarily assume that our visual system sits atop a pinnacle of evolutionary success. It enables us to appreciate space in three dimensions, to detect objects from a distance and to move about safely. African Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri), like all birds, sees the world in a rich tapestry of color that we can scarcely imagine. Birds have this capacity because they have retained color-processing cone cells in the eye that mammals lost millions of years ago.