A type of shiny or 'metallic' structural colouring, essentially independent of feather pigments; well developed in sunbirds and glossy starlings.[1]
Iridescence is caused by interference.[2]
Examples
The Tacazze Sunbird is iridescent.[1]
Male Magnificent Hummingbird is iridescent.[3]
The Himalayan Monal is iridescent.[4]
Many of the glossy-starlings, including the Purple Starling are iridescent as well.[1]
The Sparkling Violetear's iridescence is apparent from all directions.[2]
Add a photo to this galleryReferences
- ^ a b c Zimmerman, Dale A.; et al. (1999). Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Princeton University Press. p. 432. ISBN 0691010226.
- ^ a b Fogden, Michael; Taylor, Marianne; Williamson, Sheri L. and the forward by Dunne, Pete (2014). Hummingbirds: A Life-sized Guide to Every Species. Harper Design (An imprint of HarperCollins). ISBN 9780062280640.
- ^ a b Stokes, Donald W. and Stokes, Lilian Q. (2010). Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9770316010504 Check
|isbn=value: invalid prefix (help). - ^ Harrison, Colin and Greensmith, Alan (1993). Birds of the World. Dorling Kindersley Inc. ISBN 1564582965.
| This article is part of Project Glossary, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each term related to animals. |
| This article is part of Project Anatomy, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each anatomical term related to birds. |
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