Ultraviolet vision in birds: What is its function?

@article{Bennett1994UltravioletVI,
  title={Ultraviolet vision in birds: What is its function?},
  author={Andrew T. D. Bennett and Innes C. Cuthill},
  journal={Vision Research},
  year={1994},
  volume={34},
  pages={1471-1478}
}
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409 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
10
Background Citations
172
Methods Citations
8
Results Citations
1

409 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Ultraviolet Vision in Birds
Limits to the salience of ultraviolet: lessons from colour vision in bees and birds.
TLDR
The relative importance of ultraviolet vis à vis other primary colours in trichromatic or tetrachromatic colour spaces is discussed, and it is concluded that ultraviolet is, in most cases, no more important that blue, green or red reflections.
Ultraviolet cues affect the foraging behaviour of blue tits
TLDR
Behavioural experiments using wild–caught blue tits foraging for cabbage moth and winter moth caterpillars found that the blue tits tended to find the first prey item more quickly when UV cues were present, suggesting that UV vision offers benefits to birds when searching for cryptic prey, despite the prey and backgrounds reflecting relatively little UV.
Ultraviolet vision and mate choice in zebra finches
TLDR
It is found that the ultraviolet is used, and that it probably contributes to hue perception in avian mate-choice decisions, and supports one hypothesized function of avian ultraviolet vision.
Visual modelling suggests a weak relationship between the evolution of ultraviolet vision and plumage coloration in birds
TLDR
It is suggested that UVS‐cone vision generally favours colour discrimination, which creates a nonspecific selection pressure for the evolution of UVS cones.
Ultraviolet vision and foraging in terrestrial vertebrates
TLDR
The possible role of UV cues and existing light conditions should be taken into account when food selection of vertebrate animals is studied, particularly, in experiments with artificial food items.
Responses of poultry to ultraviolet radiation
TLDR
It is opportune that the responses of poultry to UV radiation are reviewed and its relevance to modern poultry production assessed.
Ultraviolet vision in lacertid lizards: evidence from retinal structure, eye transmittance, SWS1 visual pigment genes and behaviour
TLDR
DNA sequencing shows that lacertids have a functional SWS1 opsin, very similar at 13 critical sites to that in the presumed ancestral vertebrate and other UV-sensitive lizards, and four retinal oil droplet types can be identified in the lacertid retina, suggesting a four-cone colour vision system.
Plumage Colours and the Eye of the Beholder The Ecology of Colour and its Perception in Birds
TLDR
This work shows that human colour vision is inadequate for judging animal coloration, and that there is much more going on in bird colour signalling than meets the authors' eye.
The presence of UV wavelengths improves the temporal resolution of the avian visual system
TLDR
Measurement of CFF in the chicken showed significantly higher CFF values for full-spectrum compared with white light, as well as a steeper rate of increase with intensity, indicating no special role for the double cone in flicker detection.
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References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 63 REFERENCES
THE DETECTION OF NEAR-ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT BY NONMIGRATORY AND MIGRATORY BIRDS
TLDR
The behavioral data suggest that nonmigratory as well as migratory species of the most recently evolved passerines are capable of near-UV light detection.
THE DISTRIBUTION AND NATURE OF COLOUR VISION AMONG THE MAMMALS
  • G. H. Jacobs
  • Biology
    Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
  • 1993
TLDR
This review has evaluated the proposition that relatively few mammalian species have a capacity for colour vision in mammals in the light of recent research on colour vision and its mechanisms in mammals and concluded that the baseline mammalian colour vision is argued to be dichromacy.
Pattern discrimination in the near-ultraviolet by pigeons
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  • Biology, Psychology
    Perception & psychophysics
  • 1983
Four pigeons were tested, using an operant conditioning method with successive stimulus presentation, on a pattern discrimination task to determine whether or not they could distinguish patterns that…
The ultraviolet receptor of bird retinas.
TLDR
Measurements demonstrate the basis for the ultraviolet sensitivity of birds that has been seen in behavioral experiments, and they provide further evidence that many vertebrates share with insects vision in the near-ultraviolet.
Ultraviolet light detection by the homing pigeon
TLDR
Evidence is presented suggesting that homing pigeons (Columba livia) are sensitive to UV wavelengths and capable of responding to the intensities of UV light that prevail in nature.
Ultraviolet vision in vertebrates
TLDR
Following a review of the distribution and nature of ultraviolet vision in vertebrates the issue of the utility of this capacity is discussed.
Optimization, Constraint, and History in the Evolution of Eyes
Several features of the evolution of eyes and photoreceptors are examined in an effort to explore the relative roles of adaptation and historical and developmental constraints. Optical design shows…
Visual pigments and environmental light
Hummingbirds see near ultraviolet light.
TLDR
Three species of hummingbird were trained to make visual discriminations between lights of different spectral content and birds of all three species were able to distinguish near ultraviolet from darkness or from the small amount of far red light that leaked through the ultraviolet-transmitting glass filter.
Red light disrupts magnetic orientation of migratory birds
TLDR
The first orientation tests on migratory birds under light of different wavelengths are reported; the results suggest a light-dependent process that appears to differ from that reported in newts.
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