Animals - Animal types and traits - Structural coloration - Bird feathers
Why do a kingfisher's back feathers appear bright blue?
Correct!
The kingfisher's intense blue does not come from a blue pigment. Tiny sponge-like nanostructures made of keratin and air occur inside the feather barbs. These structures affect incoming light so that mainly blue or blue-green wavelengths are returned and become visible to us. Scientists call this structural coloration. The orange breast feathers work differently: pigments play an important role there. The kingfisher therefore combines different physical mechanisms of feather coloration in one striking plumage.
The study distinguishes the structural coloration of the blue feathers from the pigment coloration of the orange breast feathers.
