 Not identified Credit: Adam Tinney(Size: 25.37 kb) |
You have to have good eyes to spot flowers while in flight. The anatomical structure of the eyes of hummingbirds is similar to that of other birds. It includes visual cones and retinal rods, but in addition to cones that are sensitive to red, green and blue, hummingbirds have a fourth type of visual cone that is sensitive to ultraviolet rays. A lot of flowers emit ultraviolet rays in certain phases of their maturation. It appears that hummingbirds use these signals when looking for food; this explains why they are so adept at finding flowers with lots of nectar.
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