"Shell color comes from pigments in the outer ... color egg the hen will lay from its feathers—hens with white feathers tend to lay white eggs, while brown or red hens tend to lay brown eggs.

Blue jays, bluebirds, indigo buntings — their feathers brighten feeders when they swoop in for a meal ... brown colors because of melanin. Yellow and red, he says, come from feather pigments ...