Lesson 3

Question 1

What is the difference between feathers with true pigment and those with reflected light?

Answer 1

True pigment comes from melanins carotenoids, and porphyrins. Reflected light has prism-like barbs that either reflect or refract light giving the illusion of a specific color.

Question 2

How can we distinguish an albino bird from a naturally white one?

Answer 2

Naturally white have dark eyes, albino birds have pink or red ones.

Question 3

What are some factors that cause a particular bird species to vary in plumage

Answer 3

age, season, gender, or environment

Question 4

Which birds tend to have the best camouflage?

Answer 4

ground nesters, nocturnal birds, and juvenile birds

Question 5

What happens to a feather during the molting process?

Answer 5

the old feather is pushed out by the new, which has grown under the skin within a straw-like covering