Juvenile Male Anna's Hummingbird
by Evelyn Harrison
Title
Juvenile Male Anna's Hummingbird
Artist
Evelyn Harrison
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
This immature male Anna's hummingbird has just the beginnings of his beautiful adult beautiful pink-rose gorget.
The coloring does not come from pigmentation in the feather structure, but instead from prism-like cells within the top layers of the feathers. When light hits these cells, it is split into wavelengths that reflect to the observer in varying degrees of intensity, similar to the principle of the rainbow. The Hummingbird feather structure acts as a diffraction grating. The result is that, merely by shifting position, a muted-looking bird will suddenly become fiery red or vivid green. The resulting colors are much more vivid and iridescent than those of birds with only pigmented feathers. Hummingbirds are little jewels!
Uploaded
August 31st, 2014
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