Yellow Warbler juvenile calling from a Blue Elderberry – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1000, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Here is a little geekiness about me which is that I follow the Pantone® Colors of the Year because I design graphics and websites. A few days ago I saw that Pantone® had announced the 2021 color of the year and noticed that they picked two colors for upcoming year. The only other time Pantone® has done that was in 2016.
Immediately after seeing the two colors Pantone® had picked for 2021 I knew I had photos of birds whose plumage had those two colors and thought about doing this post. The Pantone® colors of 2021 are PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating and the birds I knew that had those exact colors are juvenile Yellow Warblers.
Pantone® picked Illuminating, a lovely yellow color, because it “is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power.”¹
Yellow isn’t what I’d call my favorite color for walls but I love seeing and photographing it in nature. From the yellows in birds, flowers, and the golden light I seek at dawn to photograph my subjects in.
As seen in the photo above the recently fledged Yellow Warbler has the same shade of Illuminating yellow in its plumage.
Juvenile Yellow Warbler perching in an elderberry bush – Nikon D500, f9, 1/640, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Yellow Warbler chicks start out with soft gray plumage that is molted before they leave their nesting grounds. They can look a bit messy when they are molting but I think they are adorably messy.
Ultimate Gray is the first achromatic color that Pantone® has picked for a color of the year. Their reasoning for selecting it “is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation. The colors of pebbles on the beach and natural elements whose weathered appearance highlights an ability to stand the test of time, Ultimate Gray quietly assures, encouraging feelings of composure, steadiness and resilience.”¹
Me? I love gray tones in nature. I’d better love this color because my hair is going gray one strand at a time. Seriously though, I find the color gray soothing.
Yellow Warbler fledgling begging from a willow – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Juvenile Yellow Warblers have both Ultimate Gray and Illuminating yellow in their plumage for a short period of time. Before they head south for the winter they will lose all of the gray feathers that they had in the nest.
It tickles me that Pantone® picked these colors this year and once again I am reminded how the colors we see in nature brighten and add inspiration to our lives.
Life is good.
Mia
¹ Pantone Color of the Year 2021 / Introduction
For information on Pantone® please click here.
Based on your excellent photo compositions, I’ve always known that you have a designers eye. Wonderful pics to go along with the Pantone color chips. Thanks Mia.
Love the scruffy floofiness of these youngsters. Who knew that these babies would be trend-setters. The first two birds seem to be checking out the chips and saying, “Yep. That’s me.” 😉
The people we bought our house from were big on grey and had just redone several aspects of the house to reflect that. In the past 25 years, the grey has sort of grown on me. (Plus, my hair is going grey in bunches, so the grey is literally growing on me! 😂)
Marketing. I like both colors on birds but not for my home or clothing. On birds they are a small accent to the wonderful rich variety of colors of nature, not the predominate color. When we were house shopping all the new construction was shades of gray and white. I did not like it, it reminded me of the winter inversions of Salt Lake, the reason we escape to the warm colors of southern Utah in the winter months.
Hi sweetie! I so loved us seeing these beautiful little birds! Both time I spent with you taking photo’s of these and other birds when I was there in 2013 and 2018 !
Love your artist eye.
And adore the beauty (and knowledge) you so generously share.
I like how you could so readily identify these colours in nature. At first I wasn’t sure what “Pantone” was then remember they set the colour for almost every product that is to come, whether it be paint on our walls, flowers, cars, etc. Although I like teal, I am tired of it being the colour in almost every product that’s out there (just look at my lotions and toothbrush and clothing) and not going to want to jump to these ones just because someone dictates to me this is the colour that will be in style.
I like it in the birds, well seen, Mia.
Awesome
I’m not a great fan of either of those colours for decorating but in birds they are beautiful. I know you have a great eye but to know exactly which bird had those colours is amazing.