Red

Fiery-Throated Hummingbird

Structural Colour

Many bird feathers, like the Fiery-Throated Hummingbird are not colourful due to pigment. Instead they possess structural colour, meaning their feathers possess a matrix of keratin “bubbles”. Light interact with these nano structures causing some light to be refracted and reflected at different wavelengths that correspond to the colours perceived. The angle of light results in dynamic iridescent colour, since the angle of the light alters the depth of the reflected wavelength and therefore its colour. The iridescent red of the Fiery-Throated Humming birds feathers is due to the nano-structures that have a depth of 625nm - 740nm, which reflect wavelengths of light at certain angels that is perceived as red.

  • Sun, Jiyu, Bharat Bhushan and Jin Tong, "Structural coloration in nature", The Royal Society of Chemistry, RSC Advances, 3, (2013): 14862 – 14889.

Natural History of Red

Cultural History of Red

Red in Human Language

Types of Red

Red in Use

Red in Places

Red in the Eyes of Nonhuman Agents

Red in Stories

  • Carson, Anne. Autobiography of Red. Affred A. Knopf, 1998.
  • Carson, Anne. Red Doc>,. Alfred A.Knopf, 2013.

References and Examples


Backlinks