Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here as a Slovene-English dual text.
Pisani svet ptic
The colourful world of birds
Written by Urša Adamič, translated by JL Flanner & G Translate
Si lahko predstavljaš svet še bolj pisan? V najnovejši raziskavi so pokazali, da kolibriji vidijo tudi ultravijolično svetlobo.
Can you imagine a world even more colourful? Recent research has shown that hummingbirds also see ultraviolet light.
»V primerjavi s kolibriji smo ljudje barvno slepi,« pravi vodja raziskave Mary Caswell Stoddard, profesorica ekologije in evolucijske biologije.
“Compared to hummingbirds, humans are colour-blind,” says research leader Mary Caswell Stoddard, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.
Ljudje barve zaznavamo s tremi različnimi receptorji, ki jim rečemo čepki. Z njimi vidimo rdečo, modro in zeleno barvo ter njihove kombinacije. Ptice pa imajo štiri vrste čepkov in poleg osnovnih treh barv vidijo tudi ultravijolično svetlobo.
People perceive color with three different receptors, called cones. With them we see red, blue and green and their combinations. Birds, on the other hand, have four types of cones and, in addition to the basic three colours, also see ultraviolet light.
»To ne pomeni, da ptice vidijo le eno barvo več. Vidijo denimo mešanico ultravijolične in rdeče ali pa ultravijolične in modre barve,« nadaljuje Stoddardova.
“That doesn’t mean birds only see one colour more. They see, for example, a mixture of ultraviolet and red or ultraviolet and blue, ”Stoddard continues.
Za raziskavo so pripravili dve hranilnici: v eni so imeli kolibriji na voljo navadno, v drugi pa sladkano vodo.
Two reservoirs were prepared for the study: in one, hummingbirds had plain water available, and in the other, sweetened water.
Nad vsako hranilnico so postavili svetilko, ki je gorela v različnih barvah in barvnih kombinacijah. Pri eni barvi so vedno dobili sladkano vodo, pri drugi pa navadno.
A lamp was placed above each feeder, shining in different colours and colour combinations. They always got sweetened water for one colour and plain for the other.
Hranilnice so nenehno premikali in poskrbeli, da kolibriji niso mogli sladke vode zavohati. Tako so dokazali, da so se odločili le na podlagi razlike v barvi svetilke nad hranilnico.
The feeders were constantly moved and it was made sure that the hummingbirds could not smell the sweet water. They thus proved that they [the birds] chose only on the basis of the difference in the colour of the lamp above the feeder
»Mi nismo videli razlike med svetilko zelene in svetilko ultravijolično zelene barve, kolibriji pa so se vedno vračali k tisti s sladkano vodo,« pojasnjuje doktorski študent Harold Eyster.
“We didn’t see a difference between a green lamp and an ultraviolet green lamp, and hummingbirds always went back to the one with the sweetened water,” explains doctoral student Harold Eyster.
Poleg ptic ultravijolično svetlobo vidijo številne vrste plazilcev, rib in žuželk. Nekatere živali pa vidijo manj barv od nas. Psi in mačke imajo le dve vrsti čepkov, a bolje od nas vidijo ponoči.
In addition to birds, many species of reptiles, fish, and insects see ultraviolet light. Some animals, however, see fewer colours than we do. Dogs and cats have only two types of cones, but they see better than us at night.
Read more stories and improve your Slovene at Časoris, while all our dual texts can be found here.
