Birds are among the most colorful of creatures. Learn how and why this amazing degree of coloration evolved. Find out how birds see color and how they use color as an essential element of their strategies for survival.
As one might expect from the amazing diversity of colors and patterns exhibited by more than 10,000 bird species found in the world, birds can see color. The colors in the feathers of a bird are formed in two different ways, from either pigments or caused by the light-scattering structure of the feather. In some cases feather colors are the result of a combination of pigment and structural colors. The greens of some parrots are the result of yellow pigments overlying the blue-reflecting characteristic of the feathers. Why are some feathers iridescent? Is it true that the plumage of bluebirds is not truly blue? Can birds see in the ultraviolet and how does that effect how they see themselves and the world?
Presenter: Shujaath Mehdi
Directions: The Holy Nativity Lutheran Church is located just off Rt. 553 (Woodbury Glassboro Rd.) immediately south of the traffic light at Mantua Ave. The church parking lot can be accessed by entrances on either Woodbury-Glassboro Road or Lenape Trail (first left off of Mantua Ave).
Photo Credit: Cindy Barnes, Lilac-breasted Roller, Tanzania.