© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Why Do Birds Have Brightly Colored Feathers?

Jon Strelecki
Tom Luljak, Linda Whittingham and Peter Dunn

Male birds have more brightly colored feathers so they can attract a mate, right?

UWM biologists Peter Dunn and Linda Whittingham discuss their research which has found evolutionary changes that have had an effect on the brightness of birds’ feathers overtime. The new data shows that both sexual selection and protection from predators determines the color of bird plumage.

Tom Luljak hosted UWM Today on WUWM for more than two decades and is the inaugural host of Curious Campus.