Color lies in the eyes of the beholder! by Gargi Mishra
Color lies in the beholder's eyes. Did I say something familiar? Yes, it is punning around “beauty lies in beholder’s eyes”.
The world of color is a fascinating play of our own sight senses. Let me explain, using our avian world experience.
The vertebrates (like humans and others who have backbones) and invertebrates (like earthworms and those who don’t have backbones) perceive the color world differently.
Few species can see only visible lights whereas few others can see visible lights as well as ultraviolet lights (UV, not visible to human eyes). Even a few can see the infra-red lights (not visible to human eyes).
Birds can see ultraviolet colors whereas humans are UV color-blind. That means a feather appearing single colored to us may appear multi-colored or brightly colored to a bird. In short, under UV light things appear brighter and colorful
In the avian world the most brightly colored bird under UV light is supposed to be the healthiest. This ability helps the birds to select their life partner and to signal to the other members of their species. It also helps in finding the prey.
Here, I introduce the Lapis lazuli of Camp Hornbill, BLUE WHISTLING THRUSH (Myophonus caeruleus).
Primarily UV hues have been documented in Myophonus thrushes/ whistling thrushes.
"Birds are often more brightly colored in the UV than they are in our visual range. The feathers of our familiar Blue Whistling Thrush display a peak reflectance at around 340 nanometre (visible lights range roughly from 400nm to 800nm) and they must appear much brighter to each other than they do to us." says Richard Corlett a research scientist and professor at Centre for Investigative Conservation.
S/he is an Indian resident but sometimes moves locally from high altitude to low depending upon the weather conditions. They usually prefer to stay near gorges and ravines with the rocky streams flowing nearby.
We spotted this gorgeous bird in and around the Camp Hornbill and inside the 'Khichdi River' of 'Pahlghat Trail', Kyari Village, Uttarakhand.
His glossy violet blue dress had been adorned with shiny spangles (on the tips of the body plumage). Royal blue shoulder patches and few silvery grey spots on median upper wing-coverts add to his handsomeness. Lower body, wings and tail are a different shade of blue. Dark yellow bill was a complete contrast with the deep blue dress. Distinctive forehead-band, brown eyes and black legs are his few other physical features.
They love to eat water beetles, ants, slugs, snails, crabs, earthworms, froglets, berries and seeds.
Human like whistling song has earned them their name. Otherwise, s/he is a marvellous composer of sweet, short, loud, shrill, clear, high pitched, resonant all sorts of melodies.
Photo By: Athiya Mahapatra
Place: Camp Hornbill, Kyari Village, Uttarakhand
