Wednesday, January 14: Color and visual system evolution in birds

By Whitney Tssai Nakashima. Birds see and produce an astonishing diversity of colors that span the human visible and ultraviolet spectrums. These colors are produced by numerous mechanisms and may be perceived by bird species differently depending on their visual system sensitivity. In this presentation, Whitney will discuss how birds make the avian rainbow, how color functions in the life of birds, and explore how visual system sensitivities have evolved across the bird tree of life.

Whitney Tsai Nakashima is a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Her research integrates historical museum specimens with modern genomics to study evolutionary and adaptive processes in birds. She received her Bachelor's degree from Occidental College, worked as the Lab Manager at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology Bird and Mammal Collection, and received her PhD from UCLA. For the Zoom meeting link, email MontclairBirdClub1920@gmail.com.