4 ms·

Ultraviolet Bird Photography

168 points by EndXA 2mo ago

nomel 2mo ago
Daytime birds are tetrachromats (as are some reptiles), and have dedicated receptors for UV, so they see each other VERY different than we see them! https://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/17B.html https://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/17B.html
- mwambua 2mo ago
  If you want a nice take on what that would be like for humans - Greg Egan has an interesting short story called “Seventh Sight” about people bio hacking themselves to gain expanded spectral perception. It’s in his Instantiation Anthology.
_doctor_love 2mo ago
Very different vibe but reminds me of The Oatmeal's tribute to the mighty Mantis Shrimp. https://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp https://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp
- peterleiser 2mo ago
  Wow. That is a worth a glance, folks.
- schaefer 2mo ago
  > reminds me of... As long as we are already on a tangent about rods, cones, and visual perception: one of my favorite fact is that the occasional genetic mutation that creates color blindness in men sometimes leaves a woman with "tetrachromacy". Four sets of rods and cones which increases color perception from some one-million colors to one-hundred million colors.
  - _doctor_love 2mo ago
    There was a neat story on the San Diego local news some years ago about a woman artist who was a tetrachromat. Fascinating interview. This woman said that the downside of perceiving additional colors is that something like the cereal aisle in a common supermarket could be a total sensory overload. But she of course said also that she appreciated the extra things she could see. :)
- nomel 2mo ago
  A fact related to something in the ocean, cephalopods have photoreceptors that are oriented neatly with nerves in the back, as you would expect. But mammals have the nerves coming out the front, in the way of the path of light! [1] So, cephalopods have sensors that match a modern camera that's "back illuminated", with metal layer/routing out of the way, and humans have a old type "front" illuminated sensor [2]. [1] Nice image here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/10150112797390640/posts/10171860924205640/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/10150112797390640/posts/1017... [2] https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/features/what-is-a-bsi-sensor-and-are-they-actually-important-bsi-sensors-explained https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/features/what-is-a-bsi-se...
- number_man 2mo ago
  Be thankful we're not mantis shrimp. Color displays and cameras would be such a pain to make
- kulahan 2mo ago
  One fun fact I learned recently. The cavitation bubbles mantis shrimps create when they strike? We use that same technology to perform direct field manipulation in eye “surgery”. I put it in quotes because I’m not sure if that’s an appropriate word anymore! There is no mechanical slicing! We just place the energy where it needs to be, and thousands of cavitations reshape the eye! The process is called SMILE.
Tagbert 2mo ago
I'm a little surprised at how little difference there is. Yes, some of the colors shift due to the false-color addition of the UV channel but there were no new patterns or highlighted areas.
- unselect5917 2mo ago
  Check the budgie. >The common parakeet or budgie has some interesting UV features. There is a small UV reflective patch on the chin, which appears dark violet to humans. Also, unlike most yellow birds, the yellow feathers on the head of the parakeet strongly absorb ultraviolet light.
throwaway5752 2mo ago
Happy to realize this did not say ultraviolent. A small but confusing Clockwork Orange reading mistake.
- NopIdoN 2mo ago
  a cassowary can disembowel a droog but a woodpecker is pure weapon
croisillon 2mo ago
they could at least show cassowaries!
rwmj 2mo ago
My favourite blue tit fact is that they are sexually dichromatic under UV light only. The male crown is brighter in UV and females prefer males with brighter crowns. Mere humans can't tell the difference. Comes from this rather brilliantly titled paper: Blue tits are ultraviolet tits https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1688906/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1688906/
- mc32 2mo ago
  They UV will sharpen them up and get them ready for a bit of the old Ultraviolets.
- rglover 2mo ago
  > Comes from this rather brilliantly titled paper: Blue tits are ultraviolet tits https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1688906/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1688906/ Made my day. Love it when you can tell they could have titled it something else but decided the joke was technically accurate and worth it.
  - stavros 2mo ago
    Nothing like "sexing baby chicks": https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119558473 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003257911...
- rao-v 2mo ago
  Read this as "Male humans can't tell the difference." and found it comic
- catoc 2mo ago
  Briljant! And there’s more fun to be had in the scientific community: Will Great Tits become Little Tits? https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1979.tb00040.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1979.tb00040.x Size matters: competition between male and female great tit offspring https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29314002/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29314002/ And even outside ornithology: The mammogram that cried Wolfe https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe068244 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe068244 To pee or not to pee https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17895334/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17895334/
andai 2mo ago
I read a passage in a book growing up, I can't remember what book it was, but it was about how crows are only black to humans, they can see different colors than we can so they're very colorful to each other, covered in all sorts of brilliant colors. Another fun fact: bees can see utraviolet, and flowers are "designed" for bees, so many of the patterns are invisible to humans, but visible under UV photography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_coloration_in_flowers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_coloration_in_flowers https://www.wildflower.org/magazine/native-plants/a-different-light https://www.wildflower.org/magazine/native-plants/a-differen...
- blululu 2mo ago
  I have heard this too but I have never seen it validated. I was hoping this project might take aim at a crow and confirm/deny this hypothesis.
  - wahern 2mo ago
    https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/6207/beyond-black-research-explores-the-feather-color-of-american-crows-as-seen-by-crows https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/6207/beyond-black-rese... > It turns out that crows lack UV-reflective patches, and that the sexes really do look the same, plumage-wise. However, the research in Yorzinski’s lab unearthed subtle changes that indicate age: On the sides, back and even under the tail, feathers changed in hue, both in the human visual range and in the UV or violet range as the birds reached the age of 3.
- trhway 2mo ago
  While seeing the same wavelength range, human tetrachromats (4 types instead of 3 RGB receptor cones in retina) recognize 100M colors instead of the standard 1M.
glaslong 2mo ago
So much of the world passes us by out of sight Oh to be a mantis shrimp, have 16 different photoreceptors, and see not only into IR and UV, but the polarization of light too!
aaron695 2mo ago
[dead]
bregma 2mo ago
Sure, ultraviolet photoreceptors are cool. You know what would be cooler? What if birds, and their dinosaur ancestors, had evolved infrared phototransmitters that can lase? The world would be a different place. Imagine how upon hearing the distinctive call of the Red-Eyed Vireo animals and people would scramble for cover lest they become its next charred meal. On the other hand, self-roasting chickens would be a godsend for the industry. Thank goodness birds are not real or this might have been a thing.

168 points by EndXA 2mo ago

nomel 2mo ago

Daytime birds are tetrachromats (as are some reptiles), and have dedicated receptors for UV, so they see each other VERY different than we see them! https://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/17B.html https://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/17B.html

mwambua 2mo ago
If you want a nice take on what that would be like for humans - Greg Egan has an interesting short story called “Seventh Sight” about people bio hacking themselves to gain expanded spectral perception. It’s in his Instantiation Anthology.

_doctor_love 2mo ago

Very different vibe but reminds me of The Oatmeal's tribute to the mighty Mantis Shrimp. https://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp https://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp

peterleiser 2mo ago
Wow. That is a worth a glance, folks.
schaefer 2mo ago
> reminds me of... As long as we are already on a tangent about rods, cones, and visual perception: one of my favorite fact is that the occasional genetic mutation that creates color blindness in men sometimes leaves a woman with "tetrachromacy". Four sets of rods and cones which increases color perception from some one-million colors to one-hundred million colors.
- _doctor_love 2mo ago
  There was a neat story on the San Diego local news some years ago about a woman artist who was a tetrachromat. Fascinating interview. This woman said that the downside of perceiving additional colors is that something like the cereal aisle in a common supermarket could be a total sensory overload. But she of course said also that she appreciated the extra things she could see. :)
nomel 2mo ago
A fact related to something in the ocean, cephalopods have photoreceptors that are oriented neatly with nerves in the back, as you would expect. But mammals have the nerves coming out the front, in the way of the path of light! [1] So, cephalopods have sensors that match a modern camera that's "back illuminated", with metal layer/routing out of the way, and humans have a old type "front" illuminated sensor [2]. [1] Nice image here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/10150112797390640/posts/10171860924205640/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/10150112797390640/posts/1017... [2] https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/features/what-is-a-bsi-sensor-and-are-they-actually-important-bsi-sensors-explained https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/features/what-is-a-bsi-se...
number_man 2mo ago
Be thankful we're not mantis shrimp. Color displays and cameras would be such a pain to make
kulahan 2mo ago
One fun fact I learned recently. The cavitation bubbles mantis shrimps create when they strike? We use that same technology to perform direct field manipulation in eye “surgery”. I put it in quotes because I’m not sure if that’s an appropriate word anymore! There is no mechanical slicing! We just place the energy where it needs to be, and thousands of cavitations reshape the eye! The process is called SMILE.

Tagbert 2mo ago

I'm a little surprised at how little difference there is. Yes, some of the colors shift due to the false-color addition of the UV channel but there were no new patterns or highlighted areas.

unselect5917 2mo ago
Check the budgie. >The common parakeet or budgie has some interesting UV features. There is a small UV reflective patch on the chin, which appears dark violet to humans. Also, unlike most yellow birds, the yellow feathers on the head of the parakeet strongly absorb ultraviolet light.

throwaway5752 2mo ago

Happy to realize this did not say ultraviolent. A small but confusing Clockwork Orange reading mistake.

NopIdoN 2mo ago
a cassowary can disembowel a droog but a woodpecker is pure weapon

croisillon 2mo ago

they could at least show cassowaries!

rwmj 2mo ago

My favourite blue tit fact is that they are sexually dichromatic under UV light only. The male crown is brighter in UV and females prefer males with brighter crowns. Mere humans can't tell the difference. Comes from this rather brilliantly titled paper: Blue tits are ultraviolet tits https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1688906/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1688906/

mc32 2mo ago
They UV will sharpen them up and get them ready for a bit of the old Ultraviolets.
rglover 2mo ago
> Comes from this rather brilliantly titled paper: Blue tits are ultraviolet tits https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1688906/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1688906/ Made my day. Love it when you can tell they could have titled it something else but decided the joke was technically accurate and worth it.
- stavros 2mo ago
  Nothing like "sexing baby chicks": https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119558473 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003257911...
rao-v 2mo ago
Read this as "Male humans can't tell the difference." and found it comic
catoc 2mo ago
Briljant! And there’s more fun to be had in the scientific community: Will Great Tits become Little Tits? https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1979.tb00040.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1979.tb00040.x Size matters: competition between male and female great tit offspring https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29314002/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29314002/ And even outside ornithology: The mammogram that cried Wolfe https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe068244 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe068244 To pee or not to pee https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17895334/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17895334/

andai 2mo ago

I read a passage in a book growing up, I can't remember what book it was, but it was about how crows are only black to humans, they can see different colors than we can so they're very colorful to each other, covered in all sorts of brilliant colors. Another fun fact: bees can see utraviolet, and flowers are "designed" for bees, so many of the patterns are invisible to humans, but visible under UV photography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_coloration_in_flowers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_coloration_in_flowers https://www.wildflower.org/magazine/native-plants/a-different-light https://www.wildflower.org/magazine/native-plants/a-differen...

blululu 2mo ago
I have heard this too but I have never seen it validated. I was hoping this project might take aim at a crow and confirm/deny this hypothesis.
- wahern 2mo ago
  https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/6207/beyond-black-research-explores-the-feather-color-of-american-crows-as-seen-by-crows https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/6207/beyond-black-rese... > It turns out that crows lack UV-reflective patches, and that the sexes really do look the same, plumage-wise. However, the research in Yorzinski’s lab unearthed subtle changes that indicate age: On the sides, back and even under the tail, feathers changed in hue, both in the human visual range and in the UV or violet range as the birds reached the age of 3.
trhway 2mo ago
While seeing the same wavelength range, human tetrachromats (4 types instead of 3 RGB receptor cones in retina) recognize 100M colors instead of the standard 1M.

glaslong 2mo ago

So much of the world passes us by out of sight Oh to be a mantis shrimp, have 16 different photoreceptors, and see not only into IR and UV, but the polarization of light too!

aaron695 2mo ago

[dead]

bregma 2mo ago

Sure, ultraviolet photoreceptors are cool. You know what would be cooler? What if birds, and their dinosaur ancestors, had evolved infrared phototransmitters that can lase? The world would be a different place. Imagine how upon hearing the distinctive call of the Red-Eyed Vireo animals and people would scramble for cover lest they become its next charred meal. On the other hand, self-roasting chickens would be a godsend for the industry. Thank goodness birds are not real or this might have been a thing.