News Animals

A single enzyme can alter the vibrant colors in parrot plumage

Transforming an aldehyde into a carboxyl group can fine-tune feathers from red to yellow

A dusky lory parrot with black feathers and a ring of red color around its neck and on parts of its head looks at the camera with its beak slightly open.

A new study shows levels of an enzyme called ALDH3A2 can fine-tune parrot pigments to make their feathers — like the ones on this dusky lory (Pseudeos fuscata) — more yellow or red.

Tim Felce/wikimedia commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

By Erin Garcia de Jesús

One enzyme has a key role in determining whether parrots’ rainbow plumage emerges in vibrant reds, yellows or greens, a new study shows.