Sorry if you've answered this before, but do you have an explanation for why tropical birds tend to be more colourful than temperate ones?
I'm from the UK and while our native birds might have flashes of colour, like the beautiful red breast of a robin (Erithacus rubecula), they're nothing compared to the native birds of somewhere like Hawaii or India.
Is it just a matter of camouflage?
Paradise Tanager (Tangara chilensis), family Thraupidae, order Passeriformes, Ecuador
There are probably a number of factors that lead to tropical birds being very colorful, compared to more temperate climates (in general).
One of the major contributing factors is probably the abundance of food, like fruits and insects, which allow birds to physiologically invest more resources into heavy pigmentation (an structural coloration). It also allows females to raise young without males, which allows males to spend more time displaying for courtship (which may drive males being more elaborately colorful).
The dense and omnipresent greenness of rainforests may also require birds to be more colorful to get noticed (both to stand out visually in that particular color background, and because sound may not carry as far in a dense forest, which means males may need to rely more on visual courtship that birds in less dense forests).
Other ornithology people, feel free to add more theory!
Also, have a look at this article from 2024:
Why Are Tropical Birds So Colorful? New Study Sheds Light
Flame-faced Tanager (Tangara parzudakii), family Thraupidae, order Passeriformes, Ecuador
Red-necked Tanager (Tangara cyanocephala), family Thraupidae, order Passeriformes, Atlantic Forest of Brazil
photograph by barradoboto
2087
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