Apparatus and methods for detecting and utilizing saliency in digital images. In one implementation, salient objects may be detected based on analysis of pixel characteristics. Least frequently occurring pixel values may be deemed as salient. Pixel values in an image may be compared to a reference. Color distance may be determined based on a difference between reference color and pixel color. Individual image channels may be scaled when determining saliency in a multi-channel image. Areas of high saliency may be analyzed to determine object position, shape, and/or color. Multiple saliency maps may be additively or multiplicative combined in order to improve detection performance (e.g., reduce number of false positives). Methodologies described herein may enable robust tracking of objects utilizing fewer determination resources. Efficient implementation of the methods described below may allow them to be used for example on board a robot (or autonomous vehicle) or a mobile determining platform.