A blue jay having a quick and easy breakfast at the local fly-thru.
Fun fact about blue jays: they’re not really blue. Their feathers are black. We see them as blue because of the way the structure of the feathers scatters light. It’s known as Tyndall scattering.
That’s interesting, will look it up. My friend Charlie, Audubon Society member, probably knows all about it already. Last week he turned me on to this app from the University of Cornell that listens and identifies birds it hears – it’s really very cool (and surprising) to know what’s in and around your back yard. https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/expanding-to-three-continents-merlin-bird-id-app-can-now-identify-3000-bird-species/
We’ve been using Merlin for a few weeks now. It’s a great app, very fun and educational.
Is that not how colours work in general?
Sort of. There’s light absorption/scattering via pigments and light interference/scattering via internal structure, or a combination of the two.
Beautiful birds, but my wife and I refer to them as the jerks of the local bird populations. Loud and harass other birds. We have one which occasionally starts his day by reminding me that I need to fill the feeder.
I felt the same about them until I moved to the country. There the bullies have learned their place, and trust me, it’s not at the top. Sounds pretty much like humans, am I right?