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Looking at Birds in a Whole New Spectrum

Posted by timothy on from the ladies-gentlemen-and-distingushed-birds dept.

Shipud writes "Historically, bird species are classified using may different indicators, including plumage colors. Also, plumage variation has figured heavily in description of similarity between species. In a recent article in PNAS, Robert Bleiweiss shows that if we look in the ultra violet spectrum, birds species which seem similar, or are even considered related based on plumage colors, appear quite different. Quite a few theories regarding supposedly sympatric (sibling) species would have to be re-checked now. And yes, birds can see in the near UV spectrum, which is invisible to humans."

3 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Wonder what else we could find.. by BlackCobra43 · · Score: 2, Funny

    ..using other parts of the spectrum? There's just so much we have left to learn about the world..

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  2. Looking at Birds in a Whole New Spectrum by daviq · · Score: 1, Funny

    They also look differently in the electromagnetic spectrum.

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  3. I found out the cheapskates seamed my Suit wrong. by purduephotog · · Score: 2, Funny

    When I was married last month my suit had been 'fixed' with a cheap fabric that was not the same as the original material.

    This fabric reflected IR light at a different % than the rest of the material, resulting in every photo having 1 black arm 1 grey arm.

    (I'm using a modified digital Rebel that had the IR filter removed and replaced with an IR pass filter).

    http://www.jasonandelizabeth.net/JasonElizabethWed /CRW_8244_19.html