How Colour Helps Nature
by Ronnee Ruselle
Colour helps plants and animals in two ways through deceptive colouration or advertising colouration.
Deceptive colouration
This is when nature uses colour, patterns etc. to blend into the background or to look like something else. Generally this is to protect the animal from prey or enemies.
Blending in with Tones, Shapes and Colours
Tone and Shape
Blending in is a wonderful way that nature has of camouflaging its' creatures with tones and shapes so that they resemble the land around them making them virtually invisible when they stand still.
Some colours and patterns help animals blend into the background with light and shadow. A great example of this is the leopard. The leopard has spots to help it blend into its' environment. The spots help it hide when it's among the grasses, but also when it's lazing in a tree and among plants. The spots on the leopard's coat resemble the spots of light and shade that would show through the branches of a tree or a plant giving it some protection when it is at rest and helping it to hide while stalking its' prey. It's colour helps it as well. It blends into the colours around it such as rocks and grasses.
(© Photographer: Nico Smit Agent: Dreamstime)
Where spots help the leopard with hunting prey, spots can also be used as protection such as in the case of a fawn deer where the spots on it's coat would protect it from predators by helping to conceal it.
Patterns can also break up the outline of an animal so that it is more difficult to spot when it is standing still. The Oryx for example has excellent camouflage to protect it when it is resting under a tree. It's colouring is the same as it's habitat and it's darker, broken up colours on it's lower half will blend it in well with the shadows beneath a tree.
(© Photographer: C Derrick | Agent: morguefile.com)
Zebras are one of the most easily recognized creatures for their patterned hides. When you look at a zebra, you might think at first, that it's stripes would make it stand out in the bright daylight sun. However, it's greatest enemy, the lion, prefers to sleep in the heat of the day and hunt at night when the Zebras colours make it much harder to see. It also helps when the herd of zebra are all together. If you can imagine them running in all directions when attacked, all of those moving stripes could be very confusing for a predator. As they tend to choose a selected 'weaker' animal to attack, this confusion can allow the intended victim a chance to escape.
Blending Colour
Sometimes the colour alone is enough to hide an animal. Many animals are a blend of neutral, natural colours that hide them very well in the surrounding area giving protection to the creature. This is particularly common in baby animals.
Perhaps the most effective example of this is found in fish eggs. They have practically no colour and can appear transparent against the water they are in making them practically invisible to any possible predator.
For some animals being the same colour all over helps them to blend in with their background. This is the case for polar bears.
Often baby animals will be born the same colour as their surroundings and this colour will change as they grow up. An example of this is the baby harp seal who is born with soft, white fur and as they grow, their colouring changes to include mottled grey shades.
The pattern of a penguin is helpful while they are in the water. If you can imagine swimming beneath a penguin, and looking up towards the top of the water, you would see that the white underbelly of the penguin makes it blend in with the light that shines through the water from above. If you are swimming above the penguin and looking down, it's black back will match the black bottom of the ocean so in this way, the penguin's colouration protects it when it is vulnerable to attack from leopard seals and other predators.
(© Photographer: June.C.Oka | Agent: morguefile.com)
Changing Colour
Some animals can change their colour almost instantly according to the surface they are standing on. Perhaps the most notorious for this are the chameleon and the octopus whose skin will not only change colour, but pattern to match its background. Other animals that can change colour to match their background are geckos (whose eyes will even change colour), frogs and also insects such as the praying mantis.
Last year a colour changing snake was discovered in Borneo. This previously unknown species of snake changes colour when night falls. In the daytime, the snake is a dark reddish-brown colour which changes to white at nighttime. It does this to conserve heat. A dark color during the day would allow the snake to absorb more heat instead of reflecting it into the atmosphere.
Some animals will change according to the season such as the arctic hare and the arctic fox, weasels, ermine, lemmings and ptarmigan. In the winter, they lose their summer coat/feathers and grow a thicker, white coat that hides them easier in the snow.
(Image courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife)
Advertising Colouration
Advertising colouration is a way for nature to make a statement. That statement could be to 'Stay away!' or it could be to invite another creature for purposes of reproducing.
Attraction
Flowers for example may be a bright colour to attract bees. The bees will come to the flower and collect its pollen and by visiting a range of the brightly coloured flowers, they will cross-pollinate them and this will keep the flower species alive.
Bright coloured berries will have the same effect. They will attract certain birds who will eat them and the birds will drop the berry seeds in their droppings which will then grow and become a new berry plant.
Bright colouring is used by animals to attract a mate. This is particularly common among fish and birds. Often the male of the species will become an even brighter colour in the springtime when it's time to reproduce. An example of this is the flamingo. The male flamingo turns a bright pink at mating time. The male cardinal will become a brighter red, the indigo bunting will become a brighter blue and the goldfinch will turn bright yellow.
(© Photographer: Juditu | Agent: morguefile.com)
Some plants and creatures use bright colours to lure prey to them. The venus fly trap is a good example of a plant that's bright colour brings food to it. The bright red colour of a fly trap not only helps protect it from the sun, but it entices flies to it so that it can feed.
It has long been believed that the Spiny Back Spider uses it's colourful back to entice mates, but recently it was discovered that it was for the use of drawing prey to it by resembling what insects may believe is a bright flower.
(© Photographer: Paul Wolf | Agency: Dreamstime.com)
Colour is helpful with feeding as well. On the beak of a mother herring gull is a red dot. This dot attracts the baby gulls at feeding time so that they aim for the red dot. This is the mother's indication that they are hungry and she feeds them.
(© Photographer: Scott Liddell | Agent: Morguefile.com)
Warning
Some creatures use bright colours as warning colours to keep predators away. Bright colours such as yellow, orange, red and blue are good warning colours. When animals see these colours, they think twice about eating or attacking the creature and will most likely continue on to find another source of nourishment. They can often be found on poisonous or toxic creatures such as frogs and when the animal eats one and gets sick, it will not eat a creature of the same colour again later.
Nature's array of colours, patterns and shapes are without doubt beautiful to behold. Thinking about why the Earth's flora and fauna are dressed the way they are adds another dimension to our understanding and makes them all the more interesting.