Soraia Barbosa, also co-first author from BIOPOLIS-CIBIO, explains: "Parrot feathers found a way to 'borrow' this protein, using it to transform red to yellow psittacofulvins". According to the ...

One study I found did show that a red parrot fish was able to distinguish colors and shapes associated with food.

They turned them into little biochemical factories that produced the red parrot pigment. They then genetically engineered some of those yeast to make the color-changing enzyme as well.

ASU Researchers Finds Novel Chemistry At Work To Provide Parrot's Vibrant Red Colors Date: February 28, 2005 Source: Arizona State University Summary: Parrots, long a favorite pet animal, are ...

Parrot feathers flaunt an array of colors, with yellow, red and orange hues made possible by pigments called psittacofulvins that are found only in the vibrant birds (SN: 3/15/05).