Scrunchie Collars - How Birds See Colour

As much as we love cats here at Little Lions, we love birds too!

Studies have shown that cats wearing scrunchies cuts the chances in half that they will catch birds while wearing them. Why you may ask ? 

Birds see in colours - more than our human eyes can pick up: Not only are birds able to perceive the familiar rainbow of colors as well as parts of the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum that are invisible to human eyes, but they also have better visual acuity. This means birds can determine subtle differences between similar shades of color, gradations that human eyes are not able to discern. The cells in the eye responsible for color detection, the cones, are in the retina, and birds have four types of cones rather than the three humans have. The exact number of cones varies in each bird species but is typically higher than humans and other mammals.

Each cone in a bird's eye has a drop of oil in it that selectively filters out certain colors, giving birds greater sensitivity to different color shades. This wavelength filtering allows birds to more easily see contrasts in their surroundings, perhaps seeing through the camouflage of insects, prey, or other birds, for example. This type of filtering or polarization is also useful for pelagic birds, allowing them to see deeper into the water than previously believed, which can help them find suitable food sources and prey.

Hence why Little Lions, bright and colourful scrunchie will give the birds a fighting chance; they see the flash of colours (that is your scrunchie adorned cat) running towards them, therefore seeing your cat moving much earlier and have the time to move away rather than be ambushed.

 

 

Also unlike a bell which cat can learn to stop jingling your cat can't work around having the collar.

Thank you to Melissa Mayntz for her highly informative insight into birds and their colour perception. Click here to read more. 

 


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