Avian colour vision: Effects of variation in receptor sensitivity and noise data on model predictions as compared to behavioural results

Vision Research

Volumn 49, Issue 15, 2009, Pages 1939-1947

  Lind, Olle ^a   Kelber, Almut ^a  

^a LUND UNIVERSITY   (Sweden)

Author keywords

Bird; Colour discrimination; Colour match; Colour vision; Modelling; Spectral sensitivity

Indexed keywords

FAT DROPLET; VISUAL PIGMENT;

ANIMAL EXPERIMENT; ANIMAL TISSUE; ARTICLE; CHICKEN; COLOR DISCRIMINATION; COLOR VISION; CONTROLLED STUDY; DUCK; NONHUMAN; PARAKEET; PHOTORECEPTOR; PIGEON; PRIORITY JOURNAL; RECEPTOR SENSITIVITY; SPECTRAL SENSITIVITY; VISUAL INFORMATION;

ANIMALS; BIRDS; COLOR VISION; DATA INTERPRETATION, STATISTICAL; DISCRIMINATION (PSYCHOLOGY); LIGHT; MODELS, BIOLOGICAL; RETINAL CONE PHOTORECEPTOR CELLS; RETINAL ROD PHOTORECEPTOR CELLS; SENSORY THRESHOLDS; SPECIES SPECIFICITY;

EID: 67649197323     PISSN: 00426989     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.05.003     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Barber C.L., Prescott N.B., Jarvis J.R., Le Sueur C., Perry G.C., and Wathes C.M. Comparative study of the photopic spectral sensitivity of domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus), turkeys (Meleagris gallopavoo) and humans. British Poultry Science 47 (2006) 365-374
2. Bennett A.T.D., and Cuthill I.C. Ultraviolet vision in birds: What is its function?. Vision Research 34 (1993) 1471-1478
3. Bowmaker J.K., Heath L.A., Wilkie S.E., and Hunt D.M. Visual pigments and oil droplets from six classes of photoreceptor in the retinas of birds. Vision Research 37 (1997) 2183-2194
4. Cuthill I.C., Bennett A.T.D., Partridge J.C., and Maier E.J. Plumage reflectance and the objective assessment of avian sexual dichromatism. American Naturalist 160 (1999) 183-200
5. Ebrey T., and Koutalos Y. Vertebrate photoreceptors. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research 20 (2001) 49-94
6. Emmerton J., Schwemer J., Muth I., and Schlecht P. Spectral transmission of the ocular media of the pigeon (Columba livia). Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 19 (1980) 1382-1387
7. Goldsmith T.H., and Butler B.K. The roles of receptor noise and cone oil droplets in the photopic spectral sensitivity of the budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 189 (2003) 135-142
8. Goldsmith T.H., and Butler B.K. Colour vision of the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus): Colour matches, tetrachromacy, and intensity discrimination. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 191 (2005) 933-951
9. Goldsmith T.H., Collins J.S., and Licht S. The cone oil droplets of avian retinas. Vision Research 24 (1984) 1661-1671
10. Govardovskii V.I., Fyhrquist N., Reuter T., Kuzmin D.G., and Donner K. In search of the visual pigment template. Visual Neuroscience 17 (2000) 509-528
11. Govardovskii V.I., and Zueva L.V. Visual pigments of chicken and pigeon. Vision Research 17 (1977) 537-543
12. Hart N.S. Variations in cone photoreceptor abundance and the visual ecology of birds. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 187 (2001) 685-698
13. Hart N.S. The visual ecology of avian photoreceptors. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research 20 (2001) 675-703
14. Hart N.S. Vision in the peafowl (Aves: Pavo cristatus). Journal of Experimental Biology 205 (2002) 3925-3935
15. Hart N.S. Microspectrophotometry of visual pigments and oil droplets in a marine bird, the wedge-tailed shearwater Puffinus pacificus: Topographic variations in photoreceptor spectral characteristics. Journal of Experimental Biology 207 (2004) 1229-1240
16. Hart N.S., Partridge J.C., Bennett A.T.D., and Cuthill I.C. Visual pigments, cone oil droplets and ocular media in four species of estrildid finch. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 186 (2000) 681-694
17. Hart N.S., Partridge J.C., and Cuthill I.C. Visual pigments, oil droplets and cone photoreceptor distribution in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Journal of Experimental Biology 201 (1998) 1433-1446
18. Hart N.S., Partridge J.C., and Cuthill I.C. Visual pigments, cone oil droplets, ocular media and predicted spectral sensitivity in the domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Vision Research 39 (1999) 3321-3328
19. Hart N.S., Partridge J.C., Cuthill I.C., and Bennett A.T.D. Visual pigments, oil droplets, ocular media and cone photoreceptor distribution in two species of passerine bird: The blue tit (Parus caeruleus L) and the blackbird (Turdus merula L). Journal of Comparative Physiology A 186 (2000) 375-387
20. Hart N.S., and Vorobyev M. Modelling oil droplet absorption spectra and spectral sensitivities of bird cone photoreceptors. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 191 (2005) 381-392
21. Håstad O., Victorsson J., and Ödeen A. Differences in color vision make passerines less conspicuous in the eyes of their predators. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102 (2005) 6391-6394
22. Herrera G., Zagal J.C., Diaz M., Fernández J., Vielma A., Cure M., et al. Spectral sensitivities of photoreceptors and their role in colour discrimination in the green-backed firecrown hummingbird (Sephanoides sephanoides). Journal of Comparative Physiology A 194 (2008) 785-794
23. Huwaldt, J. A. (2005). Plot Digitizer 2.4.1. Freeware software distributed from (verified June 2008).
24. Jane S.D., and Bowmaker J.K. Tetrachromatic colour-vision in the duck (Anas platyrhynchos L.): Microspectrophotometry of visual pigments and oil droplets. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 162 (1988) 225-235
25. Kelber A., Vorobyev M., and Osorio D. Animal colour vision - Behavioural tests and physiological concepts. Biological Reviews 78 (2003) 81-118
26. Liebman P.A. Microspectrophotometry of photoreceptors. In: Dartnall H.J.A. (Ed). Handbook of sensory biology Vol. VII/1 (1972), Springer, Berlin 481-528
27. Lipetz L.E. A new method for determining peak absorbance of dense pigment samples and its application to the cone oil droplets of Emydoidea blandingii. Vision Research 24 (1984) 597-604
28. Lovy, D. (1996). WinDig 2.5. Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Freeware software distributed from (verified June 2008).
29. MacNichol E.F. A unifying presentation of photopigment spectra. Vision Research 26 (1986) 1543-1556
30. Maier E.J. Spectral sensitivities including the ultraviolet of the passeriform bird Leiothrix lutea. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 170 (1992) 709-714
31. Maier E.J., and Bowmaker J.K. Colour vision in the passeriform bird, Leiothrix lutea: Correlation of visual pigment absorbance and oil droplet transmission with spectral sensitivity. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 172 (1993) 295-301
32. Martin G.R., and Osorio D. Vision in birds. In: Masland D., and Albright R.M. (Eds). The senses: A comprehensive reference Vol. 1 (2008), Academic Press, San Diego 25-52
33. Palacios A.G., Martinoya C., Bloch S., and Varela F.J. Colour mixing in the pigeon - A psychophysical determination in the longwave spectral range. Vision Research 30 (1990) 587-596
34. Palacios A.G., and Varela F.J. Colour mixing in the pigeon (Columba livia) II: A psychophysical determination in the middle, short and near-UV wavelength range. Vision Research 32 (1992) 1947-1953
35. Partridge J.C. The visual ecology of avian cone oil droplets. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 165 (1989) 415-426
36. Prescott N.B., and Wathes C.M. Spectral sensitivity of the domestic fowl (Gallus g. domesticus). British Poultry Science 40 (1999) 332-339
37. Schaefer H.M., Schaefer V., and Vorobyev M. Are fruit colours adapted to consumer vision and birds equally efficient in detecting colourful signals?. American Naturalist 169 (2007) 159-169
38. Vorobyev M. Coloured oil droplets enhance colour discrimination. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 270 (2003) 1255-1261
39. Vorobyev M., Brandt R., Peitsch D., Laughlin S.B., and Menzel R. Colour thresholds and receptor noise: Behaviour and physiology compared. Vision Research 41 (2001) 639-653
40. Vorobyev M., and Osorio D. Receptor noise as a determinant of colour thresholds. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 265 (1998) 351-358
41. Vorobyev M., Osorio D., Bennet A.T.D., Marshall N.J., and Cuthill I.C. Tetrachromacy, oil droplets and bird plumage colours. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 183 (1998) 621-633
42. Wilkie S.E., Vissers P.M.A.M., Das D., DeGrip W.J., Bowmaker J.K., and Hunt D.M. The molecular basis for UV vision in birds: Spectral characteristics, cDNA sequence and retinal localization of the UV-sensitive visual pigment of the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus). Biochemical Journal 330 (1998) 541-547
43. Wright M.W., and Bowmaker J.K. Retinal photoreceptors of paleognathous birds: The ostrich (Struthio camelus) and rhea (Rhea americana). Vision Research 41 (2001) 1-12
44. Yokoyama S. Molecular evolution of vertebrate visual pigments. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research 19 (2000) 385-419