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Bird in a Cage
When your eyes adapt to color, you can see things that aren’t really there.
Stare at a bird’s eye for 30 seconds, then look into the empty cage. You’ll see a ghostly bird—of a very different color—inside the cage
What’s going on?
The ghostly colored images you see, called afterimages, are the result of adaptation in the color-sensitive cells in your eyes.
There are three types of color-sensitive cone cells in your eyes; each responds to reddish, greenish, or bluish light. When you stare at the red parrot, your red-sensitive cones “get used to” the image and stop responding as strongly. When you suddenly look at a white background, the relatively strong response of your blue and green cones produces an image of a blue-green parrot.
Similarly, staring at a blue-green parrot will produce an image of a red parrot. In general, staring at any color will produce an afterimage that is that color’s complement, or opposite.
More to explore
Related exhibits
Hoop Nightmares
Your brain adapts quickly to a warped view of the world, turning baskets into air balls.
This web project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [MA-30-16-0175-16].
