Bird Eye Color Spectrum

Feathers steal the show, but there's another feature every bird has that also comes in a rainbow of colors: their eyes. And, somewhat surprisingly, scientists know very little about the hows and whys behind all this variety. A recent study shines a spotlight on the diversity of avian eye color while calling on scientists to further investigate the incredible array of hues: red, yellow, blue.

REVIEW Bird Eye Color: A Rainbow of Variation, a Spectrum of Explanations Eamon C. Corbett1, Robb T. Brumfield1, Brant C.

Faircloth1 1Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. The vivid eye colours of some birds-of-paradise, bowerbirds, and cormorants seem to be under the influence of sexual selection, just like colourful feathers. Since eye colour varies within species, it could serve as a marker of age, sex, or mate quality.

We suggest that future studies of avian eye colour should consider all three levels, including broad-scale iris pigment analyses across bird species, genome sequencing stud-ies to identify loci associated with eye colour variation, and behavioural experiments and comparative phylogenetic analyses to test adaptive hypotheses. T he color of a bird's eye (usually the color of the iris) results from both pigments and phenomena such as the diffraction of light. Avian eye colors range from dark brown and yellow through red, blue, and green to metallic silver and gold.

The color of a bird's eye is far more than just a superficial trait. It is a complex characteristic shaped by genetics, diet, and the intricate structure of the eye itself. Birds display a rainbow of eye colours, but this trait has been little studied compared with plumage coloration.

Avian eye colour variation occurs at all phylogenetic scales: it can be conserved throughout whole families or vary within one species, yet the evolutionary importance of this eye colour variation is under-studied. Here, we summarize knowledge of the causes of eye colour variation. Request PDF Bird Eye Color: A Rainbow of Variation, a Spectrum of Explanations Birds display a rainbow of eye colors, but this trait has received relatively little study compared to plumage.

Colorful Visions: How Birds See Color - Peek into the vibrant world of avian vision, exploring how birds perceive the spectrum of colors around them. But as birds use the colors of their feathers to hide from predators or attract mates, how does their extra-dimensional vision influence their plumage? It turns out the feathers of many birds are secretly signaling in the UV spectrum. So what does a bird look like to another bird?