Page 68 - Allah's Artistry in Colour

66 Allah's Artistry In Colour

Colours in Birds
One of the most important features of the multicoloured feathers of
birds is that they are lifeless structures. The reason why a feather maintains
its colour exactly, even after it is shed, is that a fully developed feather is
completely lifeless.
Rich colour diversity in birds is basically due to the presence of pig-
ments in the feathers, which were stored during the initial development
phases of the feather, or the light shifts which occur depending on the struc-
tural characteristics of the feathers.
Since these formations, which are made up of the substance keratin, are
soon worn down by environmental conditions, they are regularly renewed.
Yet, each time, the bird regains its colourful feathers. This is because the
feathers of birds continue to grow until they fully reach the necessary length,
and the characteristic colour and pattern of that specific kind.
Due to their different structure, feathers can have an appearance similar
to that obtained by a glass prism breaking light into different colours. Colours
that are formed through refraction of light in this way are brighter and more
metallic than those that are coloured by pigments. The colours of these feath-
ers shift from blue to green, and from orange to red. Generally, the green, blue,
and metallic colours in birds are formed
through the reflection and refraction of
light. Yet, some of the colours of
feathers come from pigments. 39
There are mainly three
kinds of pigments in birds.
These are melanin pigments that

Every bird species has a
different colouring. The
reason for this colour di-
versity is due to the light
shifts in feathers and the
presence of a pigment
substance, called ker-
atin, in the structure of
the feather.