Animal Colors

By Tim Haugen • Photos by the author

Colors help animals to hunt, to stay safe, and to attract mates.
The animal kingdom is full of beautiful colors. We enjoy looking at them, but those colors mean a lot more to animals than just good looks. Colors can help animals in a number of ways. Here are a few examples.

The toad shown here looks like the rocks around it. This helps to protect the toad from hawks and other predators. The toad’s color also helps it to hunt. Since the toad looks like a rock when it sits still, insects may come close, giving the toad an easy snack.

The crab spider is yellow, just like the flower it sits on. Insects that the spider wants to eat don’t even notice the spider when they land on the flower. The spider just waits for its dinner to arrive.

The ground squirrel and the mule deer are both hunted animals. Many kinds of predators eat squrrels. Deer are favorite prey of mountain lions. The brown color of both animals helps them to blend in with the trees and ground.

The monarch butterfly tastes bad to birds and makes them sick. The butterfly’s bright colors protect it by reminding birds to look for a tastier meal instead.

The oriole and the collared lizard have bright colors, but they’re not for warning or fooling other animals. Their bright colors help them to attract mates.

		The eyespots on this caterpillar are not really its eyes. Its real eyes are much smaller and cannot be seen here. The eyespots make the caterpillar look much larger than it is. Some predators may think twice before trying to eat it.