Plants

Is yellow the happiest colour?

By Elie Gordon

There’s no disputing the fact that it’s one of the most beautiful colours in nature.

The colour yellow can take on many different connotations from friendship to happiness. These photos from our Earth Capture community showcase yellow in all its natural glory.

Sunflowers
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We all know how sunflowers look, you can probably picture one right now. However, if you look a little closer you’ll notice the “head” of a sunflower is actually a collection of 1,000 to 2,000 tiny flowers arranged in an intricate pattern. Gabriel Jimenez has captured the close-up details of the central part of a sunflower head.

Butterfly on the plant

The common grass yellow butterfly (Eurema hecabe) displays seasonal polyphenism (changes in colour and patterning brought on by the changes in seasons) making them darker in the summer months and lighter after the monsoon. Sid Naique has captured the seasonal differences between male and female colouring here.

Tui bird

A tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) snapped by David Wiltshire makes itself at home among the flowers of a kowhai tree. Kowhai are a favourite food for tui and the bird will travel long distances for a sip of its nectar.

Honeybee

Honeybees are responsible for 80% of all insect pollination. Gabriel Jimenez has captured the rewards of their strong sense of smell that is so precise they can tell the difference between hundreds of different floral scents and can sniff out whether a flower has pollen or nectar.

Yellow frog on a leaf

A beautiful yellow frog resting on a leaf by Will Snow. There are approximately 4,800 recorded species of frog, accounting for over 85% of extant amphibian species and making them one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders.

Yellow and black dragonfly

A vivid southern vicetail dragonfly (Hemigomphus gouldii) resting on a spiny-head mat-rush (Lomandra longifolia) photographed in Brisbane, Australia by Tom McHugh.

Yellow clown goby fish

The yellow clown goby is native to the western Pacific from southern Japan to the southern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef. Starting life female, gobies are able to change sex if necessary to form a breeding pair, photographed here by Martyn Guess.

Yellow tree with bird standing on its branch

Primavera is a timber tree found in Central America with bright yellow flowers and firm, light coloured wood often referred to as ‘light mahogany’. This primavera is shot while in full bloom by Ramses Magana.

Sea dragon

The leafy sea dragon (Phycodurus eques) is found along the southern and western coasts of Australia, photographed by Tracy Jennings. The protrusions seen here are used solely for camouflage rather than propulsion which is achieved through a pectoral fin on the ridge of its back.

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