iridescent feathers
Rainbow-shifting bird coating
Iridescent feathers display shifting colors that change with the angle of light or viewing—the shimmering greens and purples of a peacock's tail, the throat patch of a hummingbird.
The effect comes from microscopic structures in the feather that refract light rather than from pigment.
The grackle's iridescent feathers gleamed in the sun.
- peacockOrnate pheasant relative
- bird of paradiseOrnate tropical species
- magpieChattering corvid, loves shinies
- glimmerFaint, wavering light
- plumageBird's complete feather coat
tanager · gleam · diffraction · nanostructures · structural color · melanin · kingfisher · shimmer · speculum · interference · hummingbird · gorget · keratin · starling · glint · light show · feathers · pearlescent