Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/04/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Tine, The bright colors on a hummingbird are created by iridescence, a fancy word for what in physics is known as "interference colors". It is the same phenomenon as the colors you see from a thin film of oil on water. The slight motion of the throat as the bird breathes will change the angle of throat surface relative to the direction of the incident light and that is enough to make the color disappear. Herb >PESO: > >A tiny hummingbird flew into my kitchen and could not figure out how to get >out. He finally knocked himself senseless against the window and I was >able to pick him up and take him to the porch where he eventually recovered >and flew away. In the meantime, I got a few photos. I never knew they >could turn the red on their throats on and off! It pulsed from red to >black while I watched. > >http://www.pbase.com/tinamanley/peso_2012&page=5 > >Which, if any, do you like? > >Tina > >-- >Tina Manley, ASMP >www.tinamanley.com > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information -- Herbert Kanner kanner at acm.org 650-326-8204 Question authority and the authorities will question you.