Plants, trees, flowers; fur, feathers, animal skin… How many blue flowers come to mind? Or what if we ask you to give an example of a deep blue animal? You have a few minutes to think…

The color blue Why is it so rare in nature?

There are between 6 and 7 million light-sensitive cells, also called cones, in our eyes that allow us to see colors.

There are 3 different types of cones in the eye of a person with healthy vision, and each of them; Sensitive to red, green or blue colors.

The information from millions of cones reaches our brain as electrical signals that transmit all kinds of light that are reflected by what we see. It is interpreted as different color tones.

However, when we see a blue flower, it is actually our eyes It absorbs the redness in that color and remains blue. So the flower that looks blue is part of the variety that rejects the flower.

On the other hand, the colors of blue animals are not the result of chemical pigments.

For example, in blue-winged butterflies of the genus Morpho some colors cancel each other out and there are nanostructures that direct the light layers so that only blue is reflected.

Similar effect; in the scales of blue tang fish, in the feathers of blue jays, and the flashing rings of venomous blue-ringed octopuses it occurs.

Blue hues in mammals are even rarer than in birds, reptiles, fish and insects. It also covers the fur of most land mammals. In bright blue light it is not possible to see.

Furthermore, animals’ pigments come from the food they eat.

For example, flamingos are their favorite food. They are pink because of the dye they get from eating shrimp. Likewise, the golden color of goldfish is due to what they eat.

However, because plants do not have true blue pigment, animals They cannot turn blue because of the food they eat.

While humans have three types of light-sensitive receptors in their eyes, birds have a fourth receptor for detecting UV light.

The feathers that appear blue to the human eye are actually blue It reflects much more UV light than blue light. In short, this blueness is, as it were, a deception of the UV radiation reflected in the eyes.

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