Hello and welcome. This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson. The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted, guided exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

This episode, which is number 56, is all about the colors of birds.

The diversity of color in bird plumages is one of the things we love most about these animals.

Because, let's be honest with ourselves, if every bird was a quote-unquote little brown bird,

we humans would probably be slightly less interested in them, don't you think?

I'll admit that I'm a total sucker for colorful birds. At my core, I love and respect all birds,

even the drab little buggers. But show me an orange-breasted bunting in Mexico or a Gouldian

finch in Australia, and I freak out like a teenage girl at a Beatles concert, or a Justin Bieber

concert, I don't know, whatever the kids are excited

about these days. But bird plumages are impressive not only when they display vibrant colors

plucked from the rainbow. Thousands of species aren't what we'd call colorful, but they do have

gorgeous, intricately patterned feathers in combinations of black, brown, and white.

Today, we're looking at how feathers get their colors, from white to subtle earth tones to scintillating displays of wild iridescence. Before we dive into things like feather pigments and keratin and all that, let's slow down to first ask what exactly is color.

You probably know the answer, but it's always good to review.

Color is fundamentally important to humans. Among animals, we have pretty decent color vision. That's probably because color has been useful to us throughout our evolution as a species.

Having the ability to distinguish colors helped our ancestors find food, like fruits.

Color vision also helped us avoid some dangers, like stinging insects or venomous snakes.

Today, our deep-rooted, primitive attraction to bright colors is reflected all around us in our artificial environments. For example, just take a stroll through the toy section in your local

Walmart. The kaleidoscopic display of color is almost blinding, isn't it? Human kids apparently

have a hardwired attraction to rich colors, and toy companies

have been capitalizing on it for ages. Some of us adults may find the overload of color in the toy

...