are blue birds actually blue

Im a big fan of birds. If you watch them for long enough, you will see more than their colors, sizes and shapes. They also have distinct personalities.

Some of them are also “tricky.” They fool you into thinking that they are a beautiful blue color, but this is just an illusion. (More on that later.)

Black-capped chickadees are fearless. They will eat out of your hand if you stand still. Catbirds dont scare easily either, and they are rather inquisitive. If you leave your door open, it is not impossible that you will find a catbird sitting on your kitchen counter. I found this out the hard way. (Getting it out of there was rather challenging.)

Northern Cardinals are both timid and polite. It does not take much more than the sound of a cotton ball falling on a Tempur-Pedic mattress to scare them away. And, if other birds are on the feeder, cardinals will sit calmly nearby and wait for them to finish. Then they hop on and start to feast. New Yorkers should take etiquette lessons from cardinals.

Blue jays are much more like New Yorkers on line at Trader Joes. They dive bomb the feeder with their huge blue wings fully extended, screaming at the other birds, which promptly get the hell out of the way. 3birds2

But there are a couple of differences between blue jays and New Yorkers. New Yorkers cant fly (1), and, with the exception of the guys in Blue Man Group, we are not blue.

But, neither are the blue jays. They obviously look blue, but here is something that you probably dont know: There is no blue pigment in their feathers.

If you grind up the wing of a cardinal, the resulting powder will be red. If you do the same with a blue jay feather, the powder will be brown. You can see the same effect by simply turning around a blue feather. feathers

This effect is not unique to blue jays. Blue birds are not really blue. They do not have any blue pigment. Instead they use a very cool trick called light scattering. It is somewhat similar to how a prism works. But nature uses a trick that is much more complex.

How does this work? Blue wings contain tiny pockets made of air and a protein called keratin (2). These pockets are so small that they fall into a group of miniscule structures called nanostructures, which range in size between microscopic and molecular. The tiny pockets are even smaller than the wavelength of visible light, which is exactly why they work (see below).

For perspective, here are examples of some very small entities, measured in nanometers (nm):

Note that the feather nanostructures are similar (or even smaller) than the wavelength of visible light. This is no coincidence.

The graphic below explains why you see blue in feathers. Visible light strikes the feathers and encounters the keratin-air nanostructures. The size of the nanostructure matches that of the wavelength of blue light. So, while all of the other colors pass through the feather, the blue does not. It is reflected, so you see blue. This is why ground up feathers turn brown. Once the nanostructures are destroyed, you see the birds true colors. This is also why you do not see blue when the feather is turned around. The “prism” is now on the wrong side.

(1) This is more literal than you might think. One flight in or out of LaGuardia Airport, and you will understand

Since were talking about birds, just in case youre in a bad mood, watch this: (never fails to crack me up)

Dr. Josh Bloom, the Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science, comes from the world of drug discovery, where he did research for more than 20 years. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry.

Mountain Bluebird, Deschutes National Forest, Cabin Lake Viewing Blinds, Near Fort Rock, Oregon (Image by Elaine R. Wilson).

The answer to the question, “When is a blue bird not blue?” is always There actually is no such thing as a blue bird. Scott Sillett, a wildlife biologist at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, was consulted by Smithsonian to determine the reason.

According to Sillett, “real pigments, called carotenoids, that are in the foods birds eat, give red and yellow feathers their color.” Blue is different?no bird species can make blue from pigments. The way light waves interact with a bird’s feathers and the way their keratin protein molecules are arranged gives the bird its characteristic blue color. In other words, blue is a structural color. Various keratin structures reflect light in subtle ways to create variations in the shades of blue that our eyes interpret as existing. When exposed to ultraviolet light, a blue feather may appear uniformly gray to human vision. .

While we’re talking about birds, enjoy this video in case it makes you feel down: (never fails to crack me up)

The graphic below explains why you see blue in feathers. Visible light strikes the feathers and encounters the keratin-air nanostructures. The nanostructure’s dimensions correspond to the blue light’s wavelength. Therefore, the blue does not pass through the feather while the other colors do. It is reflected, so you see blue. This is why ground up feathers turn brown. When the nanostructures are gone, the birds’ true colors become visible. This explains also why, when the feather is turned around, you do not see blue. The “prism” is now on the wrong side.

For perspective, here are examples of some very small entities, measured in nanometers (nm):

Some of them are also “tricky. They deceive you into believing they are a stunning shade of blue, but this is all in your head. (More on that later. ).

FAQ

Are blue bird feathers actually blue?

In fact, blue pigment is rare in nature. Instead, the pigment in a blue jay’s feathers melanin is brown, but we perceive it as blue because of a phenomenon called light scattering, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology(Opens in a new window). Light scattering is similar to the effects of a prism.

Are blue birds always blue?

Male Eastern Bluebirds are vivid, deep blue above and rusty or brick-red on the throat and breast. Blue in birds always depends on the light, and males often look plain gray-brown from a distance. Females are grayish above with bluish wings and tail, and a subdued orange-brown breast.

Is a Blue Jays actually blue?

The pigment in Blue Jay feathers is melanin, which is brown. The blue color is caused by scattering light through modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs. The black bridle across the face, nape, and throat varies extensively and may help Blue Jays recognize one another.

Does the color blue exist in birds?

In birds, blue is also a structural color. Blue results from a phenomenon called Tyndall scattering. Blues and purples are the shorter wavelengths of the visible light spectrum. Small particles in feathers, such as proteins, scatter these shorter wavelengths, making them more visible.