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Beak color variation

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Beak color variation

Beak color variation in different bird species. Above left, a Medium Ground-Finch fledgling with a yellow lower beak begs for food from its parent. Above right, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Below left, a Yellow-footed Gull with a bright yellow beak and legs. Below right, a Brown-headed Paradise Kingfisher with a bright red beak. Carotenoid pigments form the basis for red and yellow color in bird beaks and in Darwin's finch nestlings, a genetic mutation interrupts a key carotenoid processing gene, leading to a bright yellow beak.
Tui de Roy – Roving Tortoise Photos (finch) and Erik D. Enbody.
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Tui de Roy – Roving Tortoise Photos (finch) and Erik D. Enbody.
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  • Why some Darwin’s finch nestlings have yellow beaks

    Carotenoids are the underlying pigment for much of the enormous variety in color found across birds and form the basis for the colors red, yellow, and orange. In a study published in Current Biology, researchers from Uppsala University and Princeton University have uncovered the genetic basis for the yellow beak of some Darwin’s finch nestlings.