But when you take a closer look, you'll realize that it's actually quite rare.

Out of all the colors in the visible spectrum, blue is one that appears the least.

So why exactly is the color blue so rare in nature?

In this episode of Let's Teach, we'll learn about how light effects the colors we see, and why blue is so rare in nature.

By the way, if you enjoy content like this don't forget to hit the like button, subscribe to the channel if you are new, and turn on notifications, so that you never miss a new video.

The colors that animals exhibit on their skin, fur, scales, or feathers are determined by the food that they consume.

For example, salmon is pink because their diet mostly consists of pink shellfish.

While gold finches are yellow due to the yellow flowers that they eat.

Flamingos are also pink because their favorite food is shrimp.

But unlike red, brown, orange, and yellow, blue in the nature isn't a pigment at all, rather this color is caused by the structure of molecules, how they reflect light, and the way that we see this reflected light.

For instance the scales on a morpho butterflies wings are ridge shaped, which causes sunlight to bend in such a way that blue wavelengths are received by our eyes.

If these scales were shaped differently, or had larger gaps between them, then it's likely that the butterfly's distinctive blue color would vanish.

The color of Blue Jays is due to a similar process, each of their feathers consist of light scattering, microscopic beads that are placed in a way that eliminates everything but blue light.

There are exceptions to this process, though.

The South American Obrina Olive Wing butterfly, in particular, is one of the few animals that is capable of naturally producing blue pigment.

Apart from animals, blue also doesn't exist naturally in plants.

In fact, David Lee, a former professor in the Department of Biological Science at Florida International University in Miami, found that less than 10% of the 280,000 known species of flowering plants have blue flowers.

In plants the color blue is achieved by mixing other pigments, just like how an artist or a painter would mix colors to produce others.

More often than not red pigments, which are referred to as anthocyanins, are combined with reflected light to make blue.

A few of the most popular blue plants are delphiniums, plumbago, day flowers, and hydrangeas.

Of course, there is also the bluebell, which is a type of flower usually found in Great Britain, Ireland, and France, just to name a few of them.

While blue flowers are rare, they still exist.

Blue leaves on the other hand are practically unheard of, according to Sam Le Gallo of the University of Adelaide, in Adelaide, Australia, although blue flowers are rare in plants, almost no plant has blue leaves, except a handful of plants found on the floor of tropical rainforests.

The main reason for this has to do with the physics of light.

Pigments appear the color of the light that they don't absorb, but instead reflect.

The most common plant pigment is green chlorophyll, so plants appear green because chlorophyll doesn't absorb, but rather reflects green light.

Make no mistake though, plants with blue leaves do exist.

For example, the Cebu Blue Pothos is known for its shiny silver blue leaves that sparkle under bright light.

There's also the blue agave plant, which is famous for its beautiful blue green leaves, as well as the fact that it's actually used to make to tequila.

Well, that's it for this video.

I'm curious though, do you have a favorite color?

If you do, what is it?

Let's talk about it in the comment section below.

Don't forget to like the video, and subscribe to the channel, and hit that bell notification so that you never miss another video.

And remember, what's learned here leaves here.

Share something you learned about why the color blue is so rare in nature with a friend.

Stay curious, stay safe, and I'll see you in the next one.