Why are Indigo Buntings blue? Do you have any idea?
If a bird is blue it’s because it doesn’t have blue pigment. Isn’t it so interesting how that works?
As Cornell Lab tells us,
Their jewel-like color comes instead from microscopic structures in their feathers that refract and reflect blue light, much like the airborne particles that cause the sky to look blue.
Bunting plumage does contain the pigment melanin, whose dull brown-black hue you can see if you hold a blue feather up so the light comes from behind it, instead of toward it.
I think it’s so cool to think about how nature teaches more when we are studying the science of color. What a pleasure that because of this science, we can enjoy Indigo’s brilliant blue hue!
Of course, females would not be helped by being as vibrant as the male Indigo Buntings. They are like other members of their super family whose females are made to blend in with their surroundings for protection.
Here is what we gleaned about Indigo:
Until next time, keep looking for the things in our world that lack blue pigment! <3 Kate
For more check out: The Burgess Bird Coloring and Writing Pages and The Burgess Birds in Detail