All language subtitles for Life.in.Colour.with.David.Attenborough.S01E02.Hiding.in.Colour.1080p.NF.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.x264-MRCS

The natural world is full of colors that
we often take for granted.

There are few animals more brilliantly
colored than these scarlet macaws.

Animals can use color for all kinds of
different reasons, and some have colors

that we ourselves can't even see.

But not all colors are what they seem.

Some animals also use colors to hide.

Colors that make them disappear.

Colors that create optical illusions.

And colors that are used to trick and
deceive.

To understand how these colors work, we
need to see them from an animal's

perspective.

With the help of our specialist cameras,
we can now do that

and discover how some animals have
become masters

of disguise.

The Indian subcontinent is home to some
truly spectacular animals.

Most, like these peafowl, use colour to
attract attention.

And the kinds they've developed are
influenced by the way they see the

world.

But flashy colors can also come at a
cost.

And sometimes it's better to remain out
of sight.

So some animals use their colors to help
them hide and disappear into the

background.

One such animal lives here.

in the forests of central India.

It's one of the most formidable hunters
on Earth.

A Bengal tiger.

A female.

She's one of the world's biggest cats.

And remaining out of sight is not easy
when you are as large as she is.

Her orange and black coat is crucial to
her success.

To have any chance of catching a meal,
she has to get to within a few meters of

her prey.

She keeps to the cover of the trees and
slowly makes her approach.

She may appear conspicuous to our eyes,
but not so to these Chital deer.

Chital have only two types of colour
receptors in their eyes compared to our

three.

which means that they are effectively
blind to red and orange.

So, to the deer, the tiger isn't orange
at all.

This is how we see the world.

And this is how the deer do.

The tiger's orange coat, to them, is a
muted shade of green, so it's nearly

impossible for the deer to register.

She creeps closer.

The odds appear stacked in the Tiger's
favor.

But the deer aren't entirely
defenseless.

They have help from an unusual ally.

Langur monkeys.

They're known as the eyes of the forest,
and their colour vision is excellent.

They're eyes like ours.

have three types of color receptors, and
they can see orange.

The langur sounded the alarm before she
could get close enough.

If the langurs can easily spot her, why
then is the tiger orange at all?

Why isn't she green?

That's because mammals are unable to
develop green pigments.

So it seems the next best solution for
the tiger is to have orange fur which

appears green to her main prey.

she will have to find a new target.

Down by the water, she finds one.

Sambar deer.

Sambar don't keep company with monkeys.

They are on their own.

They have the same limited eyesight as
the Chital.

but ears like satellite dishes.

If she treads on a twig and it snaps,
the hunt will be over before it began.

The deer seem to sense danger.

They still can't see her.

Despite her effective camouflage, most
hunts end like this.

Less than 10% of her attacks are
successful.

But without her orange fur, her chances
will be even lower.

It is her colours that are key to her
survival.

The Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland.

Here, there are special problems for the
hunted.

Some animals have developed camouflage
of such perfection that they are

virtually invisible against their
surroundings.

But what happens when those surroundings
change?

Well, then, of course, the animals have
to change too.

These mountains are home to a particular
kind of grouse called the Carmigan.

Their mottled brown feathers make them
inconspicuous among the rocks and

heather.

But in winter, these mountains are hard
places in which to live.

Temperatures drop, and the land can
overnight be covered by a blanket of

snow.

Most birds by now have gone south to
warmer parts of the world, but not the

ptarmigan.

When winter comes, they undergo the most
extraordinary change.

They replace their brown feathers with
pure white ones.

They do so for a simple reason.

Things go unnoticed.

They need to hide.

This open habitat makes the ptarmigan
very vulnerable to predators.

Being the right colour is crucial.

Now they are invisible even to a
keen-eyed eagle.

Carmigan are not the only animals to use
this disappearing act.

So does the arctic fox, snowshoe hares,
and

weasels.

All, with the coming of winter, change
their coats and vanish from sight.

Their transformation is triggered by the
decreasing daylight and, over several

weeks, they replace their brown costumes
with white ones.

So, changing colour with the seasons,
for some animals, is the only way to

avoid becoming a meal.

But many plants, of course, do the
reverse.

In spring, they produce colour to
declare that they're providing food,

nectar.

Bees and many other insects love it.

In spring and summer, they travel busily
from flower to flower, collecting it.

And when the bees leave to look for
more, They inadvertently take pollen

with them, which then fertilizes the
next flowers they visit.

But there's a hunter here that exploits
this relationship.

A crab spider.

She's tiny, no bigger than a fingernail,
and she's waiting for her prey.

Almost the same color as her background.

She's virtually invisible.

No more honey for her.

The spider's hunting grounds are
limited.

Not all flowers are yellow.

When she sits on a pure white petal, she
immediately becomes obvious.

She will never catch a bee while she's
so conspicuous.

So, she changes.

She breaks down the yellow pigments in
the outer layer of her skin to expose

special crystals underneath that act
like tiny mirrors and reflect the light.

It may take a few days, but she turns
from yellow to white.

Changing colour isn't the spider's only
trick.

There's more to this story than meets
the eye.

Bees can see colours that we cannot.

They can see ultraviolet colours.

As they come in to land on the flower,
they use special sensors that can detect

ultraviolet patterns on the flower's
petals.

We can see them too, with our special UV
camera.

dark lines on the petals that mark the
landing strips of the bees, guiding them

to the nectar.

The spider, however, has developed a way
to exploit these signals.

Watching her with our UV camera, we can
see that she reflects ultraviolet light.

So she appears even more conspicuous
sitting on a flower.

This extra brilliance acts as a kind of
super signal which the bee can't resist.

And the spider...

In fact, the bees are more than three
times as likely to visit flowers with UV

-reflecting spiders on them than those
without.

The crab spider uses a sophisticated
range of colours to deceive its prey.

But colour can also be used in a
simpler, even more surprising way to

confuse the enemy.

And on the plains of Kenya's Mathai
Mara, there's one animal that uses just

two colours to outwit its predators.

the zebra.

Its black and white coat makes it
extremely obvious as it grazes out on

the open grasslands.

Other grazers have softer, gently varied
coloration which blends with their

backgrounds.

So it seems strange that zebras,
apparently, do quite the opposite.

Particularly as they live in a world
where there are so many hunters.

Lions.

Hyenas.

And cheetahs.

The boldest-ripe zebra seem to be asking
for trouble.

How do they get away with it?

The question has been hotly debated by
naturalists for centuries.

New research is now suggesting an
answer.

To understand how it might work, we need
to consider the particular colours

involved.

Black and white are two of the most
contrasting colors.

And no two animals have exactly the same
pattern, so each has a unique whole-body

fingerprint.

But when the zebras move, the stripes
create confusion.

It's known as motion dazzle.

And it makes it difficult for a predator
to keep focused on one particular

target.

The cheetah looking for a meal.

a successful strike, they must judge the
distance accurately and time it

perfectly.

So if a zebra's stripes can confuse the
cheetah just for a few crucial seconds,

it may escape.

But there's another threat on these
planes.

Fly.

They are a real pest here.

They're not just a nuisance. They carry
diseases, some of which are particularly

nasty, even deadly.

Despite the huge numbers of flies, the
zebras appear remarkably untroubled by

them.

There are plenty of flies around.

But few actually land on the zebra.

One theory is that the black and white
stripes make it difficult for flies to

judge the distance.

To test this idea, scientists counted
how many flies landed on animals with

gently graded colours and how many
landed on the zebra's stripe.

They found that four times fewer flies
landed on zebras than on their more

plainly coloured neighbours.

Why should that be?

It seems it's another consequence of
those stripes.

They confuse the flies as they make
their final approach to settle.

Perhaps this creates a visual blurring
for the flies, much as it does for a

cheetah.

So it seems that the zebra's patterns of
stripes creates an optical effect that

helps protect them from enemies, both
large and small.

While zebras use different patterns to
confuse their enemies,

On the island of Cuba, there are smaller
and rather slower-moving creatures that

do a similar thing.

This is Polymyter Picta, a Cuban painted
snail.

You might think that this one is an
exceptionally lovely, eye-catching

individual.

But it's not by any means the only snail
that is so beautifully decorated.

No two individuals are exactly the same.

Yet all these belong to the same
species.

There are also five other species of
polymita here.

Each snail has its own unique
combination of colors and stripes.

Their colors come from their diet,
lichen and mosses rich in minerals.

that give the shells these stunning
colours.

They differ according to the particular
mix of plants that each snail has been

eating.

Variations of individuals within the
species is not uncommon in the natural

world. It's called polymorphism.

But it's particularly marked among Cuban
snails.

Some scientists believe that the
variation in itself may be a kind of

defence against predators.

But how could that work?

Most animals looking for prey have a
search image in their mind.

They scan their surroundings looking for
a victim that matches their

expectations.

If they see something they recognise,
they'll go for it.

And that's where the snail's varying
colours may come in.

The great range of different tints and
patterns, it seems, confuses the birds.

He's never seen one quite like this
before.

And while the bird...

is wondering whether it's edible or not,
the snail can slowly make

a getaway.

So it seems that colour can both conceal
and confuse.

And sometimes it's used in yet a third,
quite different way.

Some poisonous animals like this little
ladybird, use colour as a warning.

It's bright red, and that's a message
which says, keep away, I'm poisonous.

Red, black and yellow are widely
understood as warnings.

So the ladybird's message is a truthful
one. It is poisonous.

But some animals that are in fact
harmless...

have found it profitable to develop
these warning colours themselves.

This African queen butterfly, like the
ladybird, is indeed very poisonous.

But this is a different species
entirely, a denied butterfly.

It has almost exactly the same
colouration, yet it's perfectly edible.

It is, you might say, using its colours
and patterns to tell a lie.

To our eyes, and to that of the
predators, poisonous and non-poisonous

individuals look almost identical.

And that's the point.

The Denaid mimics the colours and
patterns of the African queen, and so it

isn't eaten.

Mimicry like this occurs quite
frequently among insects.

The yellow and black stripes of this
harmless hoverfly resemble the warning

colours of bees and wasps that sting, so
it's left alone.

Other animals use mimicry to hide.

This moth resembles a broken twig.

A kind of mantis closely matches the
shape and colours of a leaf.

Another mantis is shaped and coloured
like a flower and gets a

reward for the resemblance.

And one particular caterpillar has come
to look like a tiny snake.

While this butterfly's wings take on the
appearance of dead leaves.

But there are some animals which use
mimicry for a rather more sinister

purpose.

And one such creature lives here on
Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Just beneath the surface, the reef is a
riot of color.

But that means there are great
opportunities for deception.

A blue-striped blenny.

It lives close to a cleaning station, a
place on the reef where large fish come

to get their parasites picked off by
smaller fish that feed on what they

remove.

This little wrasse is one of these
cleaners.

It has a long-standing relationship that
relies on trust.

The big fish get a health treatment and
the little fish get a meal.

But the blenny has learned how to
exploit this trusting relationship.

It leaves its hole and starts looking
for a meal.

But the big fish don't seem to trust it.

for a change of costume.

Filmed close-up under controlled
conditions, we can see how the Blenny's

brown stripes turn black.

The pigment cells in its skin expand and
contract.

to bring about this subtle change.

But it's enough to do the trick.

The Blenny now looks very similar to a
juvenile cleaner rat.

It's a devious disguise, and one that
will help it take advantage of the

arrangement of the cleaner rats.

has developed with its clients.

It's spotted a target.

A butterfly fish.

The belly hangs back, allowing an
established cleaner rat to start work.

Now the Blenny slowly moves in, as if to
offer the same service as the wrasse.

But once within range, it strikes.

Its razor-sharp teeth have removed not
just dead skin, but a chunk of flesh.

This isn't the treatment the
butterflyfish was expecting.

The Blenner's deceit may work for a
time, but eventually it has

consequences.

Reef fish begin to associate the
distinctive colours of a cleaner wrasse

with the pain of the bites of a Blenny.

Then they will eventually stop coming to
this cleaning station.

And that is bad for business for the
Blenny too.

So it's time to let things cool off.

A quick change back to Brown.

And its deception is over, for now.

All the while, it keeps its eye on the
cleaning station and waits for its next

target.

Some animals change colour for short
periods of time in order to deceive

others. But some use color mimicry
permanently as a method of persuading a

different species to rear their young.

One such creature lives here on the
grasslands of southern Zambia.

A nest hidden in the grass.

It belongs to a pair of common waxbills.

They are busy feeding their chicks.

The hungry youngsters open their beaks
to display a conspicuously patterned

gape, which says, in effect, food here,
please.

And the parent obeys.

But among them, in this nest, there is
an imposter.

One is significantly bigger than the
rest.

It hatched from an egg that was
surreptitiously laid in the waxbill's

nest by a pintailed wider.

Having done so, she flew away, leaving
her young to be cared for by the

waxbills.

But why do the waxbills feed this
imposter?

The parent birds recognise their young
by the pattern of their gapes.

And the black and white markings are
characteristic of their species.

But the imposter's markings closely
mimic those of its nest mates.

And because it's bigger, It takes nearly
all the food, and the young waxbills get

little or none.

Two weeks later, and the young wider is
much bigger.

By now, however, the adult waxbills have
accepted the young wider as their own.

And the more it begs, the more they give
it.

One last meal from its luckless foster
parent.

And the young wider leaves its nest
mates behind.

And this is what it will grow up to be.

Quite different from the hard-working
waxbills that raised it.

All pintailed widers are reared like
this.

Mimicry wins.

Deceiving a different species is one
thing, but in South Africa, one animal

uses mimicry to fool its own kind.

The Orange River, the largest in South
Africa.

And on it, the Algarbis Falls.

These are the main home of a particular
species of flat-backed lizard.

The males are brilliantly coloured.

The females, on the other hand, are very
different.

They are plain and drab.

The brilliance of a male's colors is an
indication of its physical fitness and

strength.

The higher their status, the more
colorful they are.

And they're not afraid to make their
seniority quite clear.

A side shuffle dance, showing off their
colours, is usually quite enough to

settle who is the boss.

But if that doesn't work, they fight.

Their disputes are all about location.

Sometimes they want a vantage point from
which to show off.

At others, a good place to hide.

Or to get close to the river where
there's food.

Here on these falls, food means fly.

The river is a breeding ground for black
flies.

There are huge swarms of them.

And they are the favourite food of the
lizard.

They have acrobatic skills needed to
catch them.

One of the colorful males are busy
feeding a different kind of male appears

He is brown rather like a female

There's just a hint

of blue on his throat that gives him
away as a male

fully mature, but not yet strong enough
to compete with his flashier neighbours.

To avoid fighting, he delays the
development of his colours and so mimics

a female.

One in ten young males behave in this
way.

But he still needs to eat, and to do
that, he's got to get down to the river

where the flies are.

That means getting past The powerful,
highly-colored male.

One thing could reveal the deception.

He may look like a female, but he smells
like a male.

As long as he keeps his distance, he'll
be all right.

The big male hasn't noticed that he's
not a female.

Almost there.

Only one male now stands in his way.

the most dominant and aggressive of the
lot.

He's made it.

His disguise worked, and now he can
feast on the flies.

He won't be able to keep this up
forever.

Ultimately, all males have to put on
their glad rags and develop those bright

colours if they are to breed.

For now, though, he's developed a
disguise that enables him to cheat in

one of nature's most colour-dependent
mating systems.

So animals of all kinds use color in a
multitude of different ways.

New discoveries are giving us fresh
insights into the lives of these

animals.

And new cameras are allowing us to see
into a world of color as never before.

We're only just beginning to understand
the many different ways in which animals

use colour.

Particularly those colours that we can't
even see.

For us, colour in the natural world is a
source of beauty and wonder.

But for animals, it's a tool for
survival.

The story of life in color continues.

We delve even deeper into the lives of
these animals and discover how science

cracks the code of color to see into a
world that is invisible to us. Look at

that. That's extraordinary.

Revealing the hidden secrets of life in
color.