http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/07/trick-snagging-hummingbird-chick-good-lighting > Amorous male Costa’s hummingbirds seduce females with their speedy “shuttle dances” and flashy purple plumage. But what’s a bird to do if his feathers aren’t as vibrant as his peers? A new study suggests a simple fix: Better lighting can make even dull males appear dazzling. > When researchers placed a female Costa’s hummingbird in an outdoor cage with a video camera below, it wasn’t long before eager males arrived and began performing their signature courtship dance. Frame-by-frame, the researchers mapped out the males’ poses and their angles relative to both the sun and the female. Then, they re-enacted each male’s routine in outdoor locations that mimicked their initial solar orientations, using colored feathers plucked from the performers’ throats. Meanwhile, a special camera that captured light in the same way a bird’s eye would see it, including the ultraviolet part of the spectrum invisible to humans, snapped photos of the moving feathers.