Hi Dave, People do perceive colors differently due to both biological capacity and training. This is an area of active research.
Regarding biological capacity, most people have three types of color receptors in their eyes, each of which is most sensitive to a single color: red, green, or blue. Some people, mostly male, are completely or partially color blind, meaning that one or more types of color receptor are partially or completely disabled color receptors, resulting in diminished capacity to discriminate differences in color. Recently it was discovered that some females have four types of color receptors in their eyes, giving them the potential to distinguish more colors than is usual in humans. This article in Discover magazine, Humans with Super Human Vision <http://discovermagazine.com/2012/jul-aug/06-humans-with-super-human-vision>, explains. If you are interested in testing your ability to discriminate colors, try out this Color Test <http://www.xrite.com/online-color-test-challenge>. If you'd like to see if you are color blind, check out Free Colorblindness Test <http://www.colour-blindness.com/colour-blindness-tests/>. Note that these online tests are not 100% reliable, due to variation in computer monitors. By the way, this discussion is pretty far afield from the usual content of CAYUGABIRDS-L, and I'm surprised no one has complained yet. People who would enjoy participating in a similar email list with broader scope may be interested in NATURAL-HISTORY-L. Instructions for joining a Cornell email list can be found in Join an E-list <http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/elist/howto/user/join.cfm>. -Mike On Sun, Jun 29, 2014 at 10:45 AM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@me.com> wrote: > That's a great website for a neat project, Mike! On the discussion board, > a participant (whose name & email I have omitted here) asked Linda's > question, and the project leader replied: > > In my June 1, 2014 report I reported an individual flying with three > flashes and reported it as orange because red was not an option. It looked > RED to me. Is that possible? > .:Don Salvatore - 6/16/2014 1:20 pm Firefly colors are listed as yellow, > yellow green, green, orange, amber and blue. I have never heard of a red > firefly. But that doesn't mean that there isn't one. Or that because of the > way people may see colors differently or environmental conditions, you > won't see a red firefly. > > * * * > I still have only seen what I'd describe as yellow-green fireflies, but a > lot of them. Maybe that's all there are at my house, or maybe I haven't > learned to discern the colors. I certainly haven't put in the disciplined > time of a Firefly Watch participant, but I'm considering it. Then maybe > I'll have more legitimate replies when people ask about red flashes in the > night. > > --Dave Nutter > > > On Jun 29, 2014, at 12:24 AM, Mike Pitzrick <mpitzr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > The Museum of Science in Boston has published some web pages with > information about how to identify fireflies using their flash color and > pattern. > > Types Of Fireflies > <https://legacy.mos.org/fireflywatch/types_of_fireflies> > > Flash Chart <https://legacy.mos.org/fireflywatch/flash_chart> > > Virtual Habitat <https://legacy.mos.org/fireflywatch/virtual_habitat> > (interactive tool to help you learn to identify firefly flashes) > > > These web pages are part of a citizen science project called Firefly Watch > <https://legacy.mos.org/fireflywatch/>, which is designed to find out > more about the distribution of the various firefly species. > > -Mike > > > On Sat, Jun 28, 2014 at 10:49 PM, Linda Orkin <wingmagi...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Does anyone else notice that some of the flashes look like different >> colors. Reds and greens. Is this just like a Doppler shift type thing or >> are they really like that? >> >> Linda >> >> > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- > -- Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight. The capacity to create ourselves, based upon this freedom, is inseparable from consciousness or self-awareness. -Rollo May -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
