Color of Birds

There are two sources of colors in birds.  The first is from pigments and the second is from the reflection of light from the structure of the bird’s feathers.

For example with some green parrots their color comes from both, yellow pigments in their feathers that mix with blue reflecting feather structures on top, creating a green hue.

Pigment in bird’s feathers comes from three different groups that  determine how the pigment is formed.  The three groups are melanins, cartenoids and porphyrines.

Melanins occur naturally in the bird’s skin and feathers’.  Melanins can produce a variety of colors such as yellows, reds and blacks.

 When there is color in bird’s wings that means they have a greater strength and durability then if they were just plain white.  That is why many great white birds often have black or colored wing tips, because it gives them more strength. Feathers and wings of birds without any color are the weakest birds.

 Cartenoids, another source of color in birds, comes from plants.  The consumption of plants, or birds that have eaten plants, is a source of color from some birds.  For example some cardinals like the Northern Cardinal, obtains its color from plants originally.

 Cartenoid colors can also mix with other color sources, such as melanins. For example the Scarlet Tanager is a green color that comes from both cartenoid mixing with yellow malanins.

The last pigment source of color is porphyrins, which comes from the modification of amino acids within a bird. Porphyrins are what bring color to many birds such as pigeons and some owls.

The other way besides from pigment, that a bird can receive its color is from the way the light reflects on the structure of their feathers.  Such as with Blue Jays.  Most people believe that their feathers are blue from pigment, but actually if you look at the feathers from not a well lit area, you can notice that the feather also can be brown.  This is because the structure of the birds feathers are arranged in a way so that when light hits and reflects off of them, they look blue to the viewer when really the melanin pigment of the feathers is brown.