Dazzling With Color: Anna’s Hummingbird

A perching male transforms from drab to brilliant with a toss of his head. More at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Fancy Males interactive feature: What’s happening: At first glance the male Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is solidly green. Then with a twist of his head he reveals a flash of shiny red brilliance. This color show is made possible by the way the feather microstructure reflects light differently as the viewing angle changes