The study is published in the journal Communications Biology.īy Chrissy Sexton, Earth. “But the combination of versatile optical structures and complex sexual displays make hummingbirds the most colorful bird family of all.” “Watching a single hummingbird is pretty extraordinary,” said Professor Prum. These parts of the body play a key role in mating displays and social interactions. A Costa's Hummingbird with iridescent purple feathers catching the light. The colors found in hummingbirds include saturated blues, blue-greens, and deep purples that are most variable on the animals’ crowns and throats. All in all, hummingbird feathers are super complex, and that's what makes them so much more colorful than other birds. The field of sensory ecology encompasses research on all aspects of this cascade of phenomena.” “The sensory component occurs when this light is transmitted through another individual’s eye and is absorbed by ocular pigments, leading finally to a perception of color. The phenomenon of animal coloration involves a cascade of physical and biological events beginning with the transmission of ambient light through an animal’s habitat and incident on its body, interacting with pigments and optical nanostructures in the animal integument, and reflecting back into the environment,” wrote the study authors. “Coloration has many functions in the lives of animals, including sexual and social communication, crypsis, aposematism, thermoregulation, and more. This data was compared with colors found in 111 other bird species, including parrots and penguins.īased on what they know about the visual abilities of birds, the researchers were able to identify plumage colors as seen by the birds themselves. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.“We knew that hummingbirds were colorful, but we never imagined that they would rival all the rest of the birds combined,” said Professor Prum.įor the investigation, study lead author Gabriela Venable collected data on the wavelengths of light reflected by feathers from 114 species of hummingbirds. David Allen Sibley, Published by Alfred A. Male & Femle: Alan Schmierer, Bettina Arrigoni, Mick Thomson. Male: blueviking63, JohnK, Andrew Reding. The recordist of all cuts used here was Paul Paul Marvin, stored on Xeno-Canto.Īdult Male: m.shattock, Adult Female: Len Blumin, Recording: Paul Marvin (Xeno-Canto). Also, bear in mind that some females are so similar among species that they cannot be safely identified.īoth males and females o all species have green or greenish upperparts. Does it have some iridescent feathers in the center of the throat?įemale hummingbirds have distinctive tail color patterns, but these are difficult to see.Are the breast and belly whitish or buffy brown?.Does it have a conspicuous supercilium? A flash of green and red, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is eastern North America’s sole breeding hummingbird. Pomata as a wall art print at Posterlounge: Many materials & sizes available Picture frames with framing.Pay attention to the head markings and color patterns of the breast and belly. As a general rule, females are likely to be the same species as the males that accompany them at the feeders. What are the colors of the breast and belly?įemale hummingbirds can be a challenge to identify.Is the crown also of an iridescent color or plain?.Is the gorget of a solid color, streaked, or elongated?.Pay attention to the crown and throat (gorget) shapes and color combined with the breast and belly’ color pattern.
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