Science & Nature: Any Colour You like ; Many Birds Have Vivid Pigmentation in the Wild, but That Hasn't Stopped Human Efforts at `Improvement'. TIM BIRKHEAD Looks at the Part Nature and Nurture Play in the Colour Game

Birds are among the most colourful creatures on earth. But imagine being able to create a bird even brighter than nature intended. By anointing parrots with the juice of a frog, the native inhabitants of Guadeloupe in the 1700s were able to generate birds of the most brilliant hues.

Throughout history people have been fascinated by the colours of feathers and have sought ways to "improve" on nature. Now, after centuries of amateur tinkering, scientists are now able to reveal some of the underlying processes that determine the colours of birds.

The first birds to be domesticated were geese and pigeons, some 5,000 years ago. The chicken followed a few centuries …

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Publication information: Article title: Science & Nature: Any Colour You like ; Many Birds Have Vivid Pigmentation in the Wild, but That Hasn't Stopped Human Efforts at `Improvement'. TIM BIRKHEAD Looks at the Part Nature and Nurture Play in the Colour Game. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: February 1, 2003. Page number: 12. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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