Space specific neurons in the owl's midbrain form a neural map of auditory space, which supports sound orienting behavior. Previous work proposed that a population vector (PV) readout of this map, implementing statistical inference, predicts the owl's sound localization behavior. This model also predicts the frontal localization bias normally observed and how sound localizing behavior changes when the signal to noise ratio varies, based on the spread of activity across the map. However, the actual distribution of population activity and whether this pattern is consistent with premises of the PV readout model on a trial-by-trial bases remains unknown. To answer these questions, we investigated whether the population response profile across the midbrain map in the barn owl's optic tectum matches these predictions using in vivo multi-electrode array recordings. We found that response profiles of recorded sub-populations are sufficient for estimating the stimulus ITD using responses from single trials. Further...