Description: Many birds are brightly colored, others use patterned feathers for camouflage. How do these colors originate? What’s the difference between colors from pigments and physical colors? From Yellow warblers to Anna’s Hummingbirds, from Snow Geese to Brewer’s Blackbirds, each species makes unique use of the feather colors it possesses. What do the colors indicate to other birds? And do birds see the same colors we do? Bob will unravel some of the mysteries of color in birds with a little chemistry, a bit of physics, and a lot of brightly colored slides.

Bob Lewis trained as a chemist and worked in the energy field for 33 years. He’s taught birding classes in the Bay Area for over 25 years, and served as the chair of Golden Gate Audubon’s Adult Education Committee. He’s co-aught a popular Master Birding class at the SF Academy of Sciences with Jack Dumbacher and Eddie Bartley, and Birds of the Bay Area with Rusty Scalf. He taught Avian Evolution with Bruce Mast for Marin Audubon. He loves to travel and photograph birds, and has recently returned from a trip to Namibia, chasing the brightly colored birds of that area, and passing 5,000 on his life list.

Image: The pigment that creates the yellow color in King Penguins is still undefined.