Anna's hummingbird and changing display colours.

Same bird, different coloured appearance.  Why?
Have you ever looked at a hummingbird, especially a male during breeding season, and been taken aback by how his display colours suddenly change?  This is true for many hummers, but I have seen this pattern very vividly in the Anna's' species. Looking at one, you may initially detect a dull, flat black collection of feathers timing his head.  The next moment produces a vibrant iridescent display impossible to duplicate on film.  The photo above demonstrates this effect well; the left and right images are the same bird photographed from different points of view.

The display about the throat is called the gorget; some hummingbirds (ruby throated) have only this while others, such as the Anna's, include the crown and even sides of the head.  The iridescent display is completely based on the angle the bird is viewed from.  A side view produces very little colour (left) while a frontal view (right) produces a significant patch of it.  If putting on a show for a female, as an antagonistic display for a rival male, or to scare off a potential aggressor, the bird puffs its gorget out and gives the full Monty, as it were.

It turns out that the hummingbird display feathers are constructed differently from those of other avians.  Structures called melanosomes are responsible for this.  A good analogy of this relates to soap.  Depending on the angle and light falling upon a soap bubble it may be either flat and practically colourless or shine with an amazing iridescent sheen.  The melanosomes function in much the same way, they reflect light differently depending on the angle of view.  You can read more about this here if you want to.

Wouldn't it be grand if we could duplicate that effect using something like aftershave?  Walking down the street you notice a pretty girl and you want to impress her.  With a slight change of the head position your normal visage turns into a stunning display that she cannot take her eyes off of.  No more wearing bling, driving a fast car, or working tirelessly on weights to produce a metamorphic physique.  One tilt of the head and they are captivated.

Yes, I think hummingbirds did it right.  Besides, it turns out car keys are about the same size as hummers, and they couldn't quite manage them.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com   Eric Svendsen

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