Scientists Stumped by Glittering Gold Feathers on New Hybrid Hummingbird
Scientists have discovered a never-before-documented hybrid hummingbird with glittering gold feathers in the Peruvian Andes. The bird is a combination of two different species, the Pink-throated Brilliant hummingbird and the Rufous-webbed Brilliant hummingbird. Hybrids like this one might contribute to the diversity of structural colors found across the hummingbird family tree. The discovery raises questions about how hummingbirds evolve and the complex ways in which iridescent feather colors are determined. Feathers get their base color from pigment, but hummingbirds' iridescence depends on how light is bent and filtered as it hits the feather cells at different angles.