Cinereous is a
colour
Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorp ...
, meaning ashy grey in appearance, either consisting of or resembling ashes, or a grey colour tinged with
coppery brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black.
In the ...
. It is derived from the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, from (wood ashes).
The first recorded use of ''cinereous'' as a colour name in
English was in 1661.
Cinereous in nature
Bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s
* The colour name ''cinereous'' is used especially in both the English and the scientific (as ''cinerea / cinereus'') names of birds with ash grey plumage with or without a slight coppery brown tinge, including the
cinereous antshrike (''Thamnomanes caesius''),
cinereous becard (''Pachyramphus rufus''),
cinereous bunting (''Emberiza cineracea''),
cinereous conebill (''Conirostrum cinereum''),
cinereous finch (''Piezorhina cinerea''),
cinereous ground-tyrant (''Muscisaxicola cinereus''),
cinereous harrier (''Circus cinereus''),
cinereous mourner
The cinereous mourner (''Laniocera hypopyrra'') is a species of bird in the family Tityridae. The term '' cinereous'' describes its colouration. It has traditionally been placed in the cotinga family, but evidence strongly suggest it is better ...
(''Laniocera hypopyrra''),
cinereous-breasted spinetail (''Synallaxis hypospodia''),
cinereous tinamou (''Crypturellus cinereus''),
cinereous tyrant (''Knipolegus striaticeps''),
grey heron
The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...
(''Ardea cinerea''), and
cinereous warbling-finch (''Poospiza cinerea'').
* However, the colours of these birds may be brighter to the birds themselves since birds are
tetrachromat
Tetrachromacy (from Ancient Greek ''tetra'', meaning "four" and ''chroma'', meaning "color") is the condition of possessing four independent channels for conveying color information, or possessing four types of cone cell in the eye. Organisms ...
s and can see colours in the
ultraviolet
Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...
range that are invisible to humans, who are
trichromat
Trichromacy or trichromatism is the possession of three independent channels for conveying color information, derived from the three different types of cone cells in the eye. Organisms with trichromacy are called trichromats.
The normal expl ...
s.
grey heron
The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...
)
Image:Crypturellus cinereus.jpg, Cinereous tinamou
Image:090508-cinereous-bunting-at-Petrified-Forest.jpg, Cinereous bunting
Image:Circus cinereus (8391094118).jpg, Cinereous harrier
See also
*
Animal colouration
*
List of colours
These are the lists of colors;
* List of colors: A–F
* List of colors: G–M
* List of colors: N–Z
* List of colors (alphabetical)
* List of colors by shade
* List of color palettes
* List of Crayola crayon colors
* List of RAL colours
* Lis ...
References
External links
The Free Dictionary
{{Shades of grey
Shades of brown
Shades of gray
Bird colours