• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Pretty In Pink: Long-Eared Owls Found To Fluoresce Under UV Light Join Glowing Animal Brigade

April 25, 2025 by Deborah Bloomfield

Ahh, the world of glowing animals. From wombats and platypuses to puffins and bats, many animals of planet Earth can rustle up not only their typical colors but a few hidden tricks in their feathers and fur that only show up under certain conditions. Joining the ranks are long-eared owls (Asio otus), which have been found to have feathers that glow pink under ultraviolet light (UV).

Researchers collected feathers from the owls during the spring migration season in 2020 at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory in Paradise, Michigan. In total, 99 feathers were sampled. During the sampling process, the owls were also sexed so the team could compare the UV features of their feathers against known factors in long-eared owls. Females are significantly larger than the males and also have darker feathers, particularly on the underwing. Therefore, the team wanted to find out whether body size and/or sex had an influence on the glowing feathers.

In owls, the fluorescent pigments are found on the barbs of body feathers that are on the underside of their wings. This keeps the feathers out of the sunlight and preserves the fluorescent pigments, which can begin to degrade with exposure. These photosensitive pigments are known as porphyrins and are what causes the feather to glow. In particular, the owls have two porphyrins that are called coproporphyrin III and protoporphyrin IX.

“We are only beginning to describe fluorescent pigments in birds and other vertebrates,” said Emily Griffith, a PhD candidate in the Biodiversity, Earth & Environmental Science department at Drexel University and study lead author, in a statement. “Although describing what species they are present in is important, in order to understand what their function is we need to also describe how they vary within a species like the long-eared owl.”

A long-eared owl peeking through some leaves

“The normal light spectrum is for losers…”  – long-eared owl (probably). 

Image Credit: Artem Tkachuk/Shutterstock

The team found that birds that were older and female had a higher abundance of fluorescent pigments within their feathers. They also found that younger birds had more fluorescent pigments if they were heavier, but this only applied to juvenile birds. These conclusions match what the team expected based on the owls’ pigments seen in the visible light spectrum. 

“Our study shows that female long-eared owls have a much higher concentration of these pigments in their feathers, challenging a common misconception that colorful plumage is a ‘male’ trait,” said Griffith. “Moreover, this trait doesn’t follow a strict binary – the amount of fluorescent pigments in these owls exists on a spectrum where the amount of pigment is related to size, age, and sex all together.”

The researchers think that the fluorescent feathers may be a visual signal that can be used in sexual selection. Males perform courtship dances that show off the underside of their wings. Previous work has found a relationship between food abundance and fluorescent pigments in Eurasian eagle owls (Bubo bubo), suggesting that it could show female owls the healthiest, strongest males.  

However, the team also has another theory: that the fluorescence pigments can limit radiative heat loss in females while they are nesting. This idea would help explain the differences in fluorescent pigment abundance between the males and females. 

“So little is known about fluorescent pigments in bird feathers and owls aren’t the only ones with fluorescent pigments,” said Griffith. “So, it’s a really exciting time to be interested in studying bird plumage.”

The paper is published in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Russia moves Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets to Belarus to patrol borders, Minsk says
  2. French senators to visit Taiwan amid soaring China tensions
  3. Thought Unicorns Don’t Exist? Turns Out They Live In A Chinese Cave
  4. Softball-Sized Tarantulas Are Crossing State Lines In Their Thousands Looking For Love

Source Link: Pretty In Pink: Long-Eared Owls Found To Fluoresce Under UV Light Join Glowing Animal Brigade

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Are There Colors That Only Exist In Our Brains? Find Out More In Issue 35 Of CURIOUS – Out Now
  • If They Take Fluoride Out Of The Water, What Could Happen To Americans’ Teeth?
  • Paraglider Accidentally Flies Into The “Death Zone” 8,500 Meters Up – And Survives
  • World’s Oldest Fingerprint, Bioacoustics Could Give Us “A Peek Into The Language Of Wolves”, And Much More This Week
  • Please Stop Jamming Coins Into The Rocky Cracks Of Legendary Giant’s Causeway
  • We’re A Step Closer To Knowing Who Made The Earliest Known Stone Tools
  • These Little Birds Are All But Extinct – But There Is Still Time To Save Them
  • The Three Types Of Female Orgasm
  • Elon Musk Has Announced His Bombastic Plan To Get Humans To Mars
  • China Unveils World’s Largest Offshore Wind Turbine With Hub Height Of 185 Meters
  • Oldest Fingerprint, AI Decoding Wolf Language, And Injecting Life On Other Worlds?
  • “There Are Glimmers Of Hope”: Search For One Of The World’s Most Endangered Pigeons Just Scored A Big Win
  • Earth Has A 1-In-100,000 Chance Of Being Ejected From The Solar System Due To A Passing Star
  • “Necrobotics” Turns Dead Spider Corpses Into Biohybrid Robots
  • Why Even Traveling Close To The Speed Of Light Is So Hard
  • Peer Into The Universe’s Distant Past Thanks To JWST’s Longest-Exposure Photo Yet
  • First Evidence For Chubby Cheeks In Dinosaurs Challenges Our Understanding Of How They Chewed
  • The 2021 “Heat Dome” Killed Her Mother. Now, She’s Suing The Oil Companies Responsible
  • Two Of The Most Destructive Termites Got It On, Sparking Hybrid Threat In Florida
  • The Mad Gasser of Mattoon: A Story Of Anxiety And Hysteria In America’s Heartland
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version