Artificial Moth Eludes Bird’s Eye

Do you notice anything in this picture?  If you need a hint, there is a camouflaged triangle pegged to the middle of the tree.

This "artificial moth" was part of a study at the University of Bristol to determine if camouflage can fool birds as well as it does humans.  It turns out that it can.

When a dead mealworm was attached to variously decorated triangles, the worm took longer to be eaten when specific patterns were used in the coloration.

Specifically, Innes Cuthill and his fellow researchers found that birds were slower to identify the moth-shaped food receptacles when they were painted in contrasting colors and with shapes that intersected the triangle's border.

In comparison, solid-colored triangles were almost immediately spotted by the birds.  Low-contrast colors and shapes that remained inside the borders did not hide their triangles as well as bold colors that broke the line at the edge. 

This most elusive pattern - typical in modern-day military fatigues - is thought to be effective because it obscures the outline of the animal's, or the soldier's, body. 

The study was published in today's issue of the journal Nature.

-- Michael Schirber

Credit: University of Bristol