Iridescent hummingbird’s feathers

This video says about itself:

Brilliant Iridescent Throat Plumes of the Bumblebee Hummingbird

3 July 2016

The feathers on this hummingbird’s throat are surprising. One minute they’re bright red, the next, black. This is known as iridescence, a common, showy feature of many birds’ plumages, from hummingbirds to starlings to jays to ducks.

Iridescence doesn’t exist as a pigment—it is a structural color created by light striking the feathers. In each iridescent feather, keratin, melanin, and air are arranged in such a way that the appearance of the feather changes at different viewing angles.

Bumblebee hummingbirds live in Mexico. They are the smallest birds in the world.

Hummingbird migration: here.

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