Colored reflections from the black-billed magpie feathers

Jean Pol Vigneron; Virginie Lousse

doi:10.1117/12.682243

14 August 2006 Colored reflections from the black-billed magpie feathers

Jean Pol Vigneron, Virginie Lousse

Proceedings Volume 6285, The Nature of Light: Light in Nature; 628508 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.682243
Event: SPIE Optics + Photonics, 2006, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The structural origin of the weak iridescence on some of the dark feathers of the black-billed magpie, Pica pica (Corvidae), is found in the structure of the ribbon-shaped barbules. The cortex of these barbules contains cylindrical holes distributed as the nodes of an hexagonal lattice in the hard layer cross-section. The cortex optical properties are described starting from a photonic-crystal film theory. The yellowish-green coloration of the bird's tail can be explained by the appearance of a reflection band related to the photonic-crystal lowest-lying gap. The bluish reflections from the wings are produced by a more complicated mechanism, involving the presence of a cortex "second gap".

Citation Download Citation

Jean Pol Vigneron and Virginie Lousse "Colored reflections from the black-billed magpie feathers", Proc. SPIE 6285, The Nature of Light: Light in Nature, 628508 (14 August 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.682243

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