Color Vision of the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus Undulatus): Hue Matches, Tetrachromacy, and Intensity Discrimination

Budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus, were trained to discriminate monochromatic lights from mixtures of two comparison lights. The addition of small amounts of UV (365 nm) to blue or yellow lights dramatically changed the color for the birds. Hue matches showed the birds to be dichromatic both at long wavelengths (only P565 and P508 active) and at short wavelengths (only P370 and P445 active because of screening of P508 and P565 by cone oil droplets). In mid-spectrum (only P445 and P508 active), a hue match was achieved, but the results were more complicated because two opponent neural processes were activated. All observed hue matches were in quantitative agreement with calculations of relative quantum catch in the pairs of participating single cones and point to the presence of a minimum of three opponent neural processes. For the hue matches at mid- and short wavelengths, the calculations also predict peak values of absorbance of the cone oil droplets associated with P508 and P445. Relative intensity of the training light affected difficult matches at long but not short wavelengths, likely due to achromatic signals from the double cones. With suitable training, birds could make intensity discriminations at short wavelengths, where the double cones have diminished sensitivity.