I do not know about seabirds, but I remember reading in the early 80's an
article in some obscure Australian journal that monomorphic Psittacines
were visually different when viewed under UV light. I also recall reading
something about starlings and UV. I would not be surprised to find that
this phenomena is more widespread amongst vertebrates. Might be a good
topic for an aspiring graduate student!

Eric Kowalczyk
Seattle


> [Original Message]
> From: monte merrick <montemerrick at speakeasy.net>
> To: Rachel <RachelWL at msn.com>
> Cc: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Date: 3/11/2007 11:55:35 PM
> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Male/female colors
>
> do you have more info about that?
> i'd be really interested to see how it applies to seabirds and the like
> thanks
>
> monte merrick
> wildlife rehabilitator/oiled bird care specialist
> lummi island washington
> montemerrick at speakeasy.net
>
> On Mar 11, 2007, at 11:23 PM, Rachel wrote:
>
> > A study came out a number of years ago that showed that the Blue Tit,
> > a European speciesalways thought to be sexually monomorphic,
> > showsobvious sexual dimorphismin the ultra-violet range. The birds
> > presumably can see the difference, but our human eyes can't. It would
> > be interesting to know how common this is in birds.
> >
> > Rachel Lawson
> > Seattle
> > RachelWL at msn.com
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> >
>