Color

16 years ago

First of all, approximately 50% of people suffer from some degree of color blindness. After 50 years of birding and 25 years as a commercial/house painter, I have run into that... a lot

Seeing pretty colors, actually, sets off pleasure receptors in our brains. I, like most birders, have acute color discrimination, being able to distinguish very slight variations in different shades of any color. So, I'm "athinkin" that, because of this, people like me get more pleasure from watching birds because we see so many more colors. People who suffer from color blindness will never see what the big deal is about bird watching because they don't receive the same amount of joy as we do.

I have noticed that, with a lot of practice and focus, some people can teach their brains to recognize colors better. I think their brains just never thought it important before.

This might cause a ruckuss: My group of observers, me included, have never believed that animals are color blind. All the eye does is separate colors, that is how we see. Even the peripheral part of the eye, that detects movement, does so because it detects rapid color change. To think that the pleasure of seeing colors is only meant for us is way too pretentious for me to believe.

As in the case of birds, biologists will say that birds don't have as many cones in their eyes to separate colors as we do. What I say to that is, they don't need as many. Their brains are so efficient that they do as well, or better, with less. Anyone who thinks a hawk, that can see a mouse at a quarter of a mile, is color blind, is not thinking that out. Obviously, hummingbirds love pretty colors, they don't go around licking rocks.

When I was a kid, everyone was told that insects view the world through crystal spectacles (try walking around wearing crystal spectacles), bats are blind (glad they got over that one) and animals are color blind (wish they would get over that one) Our optic nerves transmit what we see to our brains upside down. Imagine trying to function with everything looking upside down. Our brain, obviously, processes the image and rights it. The wonderful thing about the brain is that nobody knows what really goes on inside of it or what that brain sees, except the owner.

Happy color absorption everyone

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Comments (3)

litholad
16 years ago
I agree, birdguy. I'm a printer and spend my day looking at press sheets of 4 color process, PMS colors and swatchbooks of paper.
I'm still amazed that so many people have trouble seeing colors, especially blues, greens and reds.
The first bird I remember noticing when I was a kid, apart from cardinals, robins and blue jays was a male House Finch in spring breeding colors.
He got caught in the line of a wind chime on my grandparents back porch. I held him gently and unwound the line from around his leg and examined him closely for a few seconds then released him. I was hooked.
Now, almost 50 years later, I still get great pleasure out of seeing a beautiful bird.
rachel_frome_ky
16 years ago
According to this raptor website, hawks have far more color receptors in their eyes than we do, but owls are color blind because their eyes sacrifice color to be able to see in the dark

http://www.workman.com/products/9781580174459/excerpt_from_book.html
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birdguy
Original Author
16 years ago
Once again, I'm not going for that. I think that, on a moonlit night, dogs and owls see colors as well, or better, as we do in broad daylight. These animals see quite well in daylight, too.

Dogs can hear at least 100 times better than us (or more), some of them have a sense of smell that is up to one million times better than ours, plus, they can see perfectly night or day. But, I'm supposed to believe that they are color blind.

The very fact that all animals use color to camouflage themselves as a defense against predators just blows the theory of color blindness out of the water. Why would a tree frog change colors to match even the flaws in a leaf? I could name a million animals that use color as camouflage and they do it for only one reason: Their predators see color extremely well.

Why would female birds match their surroundings for nesting purposes? In the fall, when hiding among the leaves will soon not be an option, most birds molt into more subdued colors that match their surroundings of browns and more subtle colors. Painted Buntings males don't lose their bright colors and they are out of here the first time they see a leaf fall because, with no leaves to hide behind, they will stick out to predators like a light bulb. But, the females and juveniles linger here longer, as long as there are a few green leaves, because they just look like a green leaf.

And on and on. All of their plumages have something to do with how their color relates to the world and so do all other animals' coloration. Birds that want to be seen have bright colors, those that don't want to be seen have colors that match their surroundings.

One can watch a Cuddlefish change from camouflage colors, when hiding, to pulsating neon colors when it is dazzling it's prey. If sea creatures were color blind, that would be pointless.
I think that a lot of scientists are looking at the wrong end of the stick.
Name me one animal whose coloration doesn't relate directly to it's environment.
Except, of course, the male Cardinal. He's so mean he just doesn't care. lol. But, he doesn't sit on the nest because he would endanger his offspring by being so brightly colored.

Color

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litholad

rachel_frome_ky

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litholad

rachel_frome_ky

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