Go for the glow

Birds prefer fruit that reflects UV light

source: Anil Anathaswamy
New Scientist October 20 2001 p20

Researchers from Purdue University, Indiana, US, have found that birds prefer fruit that reflects UV light. The team studied 57 types of fruit found on an island in Panama. Unripe fruit doesn’t reflect UV light. The researchers used UV-absorbing filters above a plant, and found that birds tended to avoid fruit that did not have UV light reaching it, focusing on fruit receiving UV light. Birds may perceive colours with more dimensions than humans do. This research was reported in Evolutionary Ecology Research, vol 3 p767.
BI,BT