In studying bird colors for more than 40 years, amongst others as a bird breeder, the author has made a number of new discoveries related to the creation and display of colors in birds, and especially changes in color. What he has discovered is the way in which bird colors are created, and 8 genetic, inheritable defects that are responsible for all the changes in bird colors. It explains all the different bird colors seen by bird watchers in nature, and also point scientists in a direction to further the "Science of Avechroma", the name he has given to the new science, or sub-science, of studying bird colors.

Understanding bird colors is an interesting and fascinating subject, but very complex. The main reason for this is that the colors that the human eye perceives, are actually reflected or refracted light waves; the reflected light waves according to one of two different color systems. To understand colors is, therefore a hybrid science between biology, optics, chromatics, chemistry, physics, psychology and genealogy.

To relay the information to Mr. Average, the author makes extensive use of simplified graphics and illustrations. They would sometimes not correspond to exactly what one would see under, for instance, an electron microscope in the cell of a bird, but has the purpose of explaining the different conditions and processes to the layman.

With the knowledge contained in this book, birdwatchers will now be able to fully understand the differently colored birds of the same species that they may encounter in the field, while breeders may even completely understand the breeding of birds with different colors and breed their birds accordingly.

The reason why conditions such as leucism and melanism have a number of different interpretations, some completely wrong, and why a condition such as xanthocronism has been "created" by scientists while it actually does not exist at all, is because of scientists trying to explain the forming and display of colors in birds from different scientific bases. To emphasise this viewpoint: You cannot explain the formation and display of biological, pigment based colors by optics, and you can not explain optically created colors biologically. And in birds colors are created and perceived both biologically and optically! While refraction of light also comes into play.

Scientists can now incorporate the new discoveries about color and genetic defects in birds as described in this book, in genetic science and adapt their present knowledge bases, theories and definitions where required. They can totally rethink dominance and recessiveness, they can kiss the old theories of xanthocronism goodbye, and look anew at the pure definitions for leucism and melanism. They can also rethink the theory of spontaneous mutations and replace it with the law of color changes as a result of specific, identifiable, predictable and calculable color defects. They can transfer the knowledge obtained from this publication, to other groups of living animals such as fishes, insects, plants and even man. Breeders breeding animals such as dogs, cats, horses and birds, will also benefit from this knowledge.

In a further exciting development the author discovered that the gene defects that he discovered, are also responsible for the different eye, skin and hair colors of humans, and the same gene defects the create color blindness. Color blindness is addressed in a separate publication of the author.

Not only does this publication establish Avechroma as the Sciene of Color in Birds, but it can contribute immensely to the expansion of knowledge in other scientific fields as well.

The author is proud to submit the results of 40 years of intense study to you, the reader, in this publication.

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