Feathery - Structures and Characteristics - Coloration

Coloration

The colors of feathers are produced by pigments, by microscopic structures that can refract, reflect, or scatter selected wavelengths of light, or by a combination of both.

Most feather pigments are melanins (brown and beige pheomelanins, black and grey eumelanins) and carotenoids (red, yellow, orange); other pigments occur only in certain taxa – the yellow to red psittacofulvins (found in some parrots) and the red turacin and green turacoverdin (porphyrin pigments found only in turacos).

Structural coloration is involved in the production of blue colors, iridescence, most ultraviolet reflectance and in the enhancement of pigmentary colors. Structural iridescence has been reported in fossil feathers dating back 40 million years. White feathers lack pigment and scatter light diffusely; albinism in birds is caused by defective pigment production, though structural coloration will not be affected (as can be seen e.g. in blue-and-white budgerigars).

For example, the blues and bright greens of many parrots are produced by constructive interference of light reflecting from different layers of the structures in feathers, in the case of green plumage in addition to the yellow pigments; the specific feather structure involved is sometimes called the Dyck texture. Melanin is often involved in the absorption of some of the light; in combination with yellow pigment it produces dull olive-greens.

In some birds, the feather colors may be created or altered by uropygial gland secretions. The yellow bill colors of many hornbills are produced by preen gland secretions. Other differences that may only be visible in the ultraviolet region have been suggested, but studies have failed to find evidence. Uropygial oil secretion may also have an inhibitory effect on feather bacteria.

A bird's feathers undergo wear and tear and are replaced periodically during its life through molting. New feathers, known as blood, or pin feathers (depending on the stage of growth) when developing, are formed through the same follicle from which the old ones were fledged. The presence of melanin in feathers increases their resistance to abrasion. One study notes that melanin based feathers were observed to degrade more quickly under bacterial action, even compared to unpigmented feathers from the same species, than those unpigmented or with carotenoid pigments. However, another study the same year compared the action of bacteria on pigmentations of two song sparrow species and observed that the darker pigmented feathers were more resistant and they cited other research also published in 2004 that stated increased melanin provided greater resistance. They observed that the greater resistance of the darker birds confirmed Gloger's rule. The evolution of coloration is based on sexual selection and it has been suggested that carotenoid-based pigments may have evolved since they are likely to be more honest signals of fitness because they are derived from special diets, or because carotenoids are also required for immune function.