Why are so many of California’s favorite hummingbird flowers red? From California fuchsia blooming in the fall to Western columbine, scarlet bugler and paintbrush, our native flora is full of brilliant red flowers that hummingbirds love. But is red simply a color that attracts hummingbirds, or does it also help flowers avoid unwanted visits from bees?

Join Santa Clara University biology professor Justen Whittall to explore how hummingbirds and bees see flowers differently, including a hidden world of ultraviolet colors invisible to humans. Drawing on recent research with his students and international collaborators, he’ll reveal how these hidden pigments may help explain not only why hummingbird flowers are red, but also how new plant species evolve.

Prof. Whittall will bring a UV camera and some flowers so that you can see what they look like to the birds. If you would like to bring your own flowers, you are welcome to do so.

Justen Whittall earned his B.S. in Biology from Santa Clara University, an M.S. from Oregon State University studying monkeyflower conservation genetics and a Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara investigating the evolution of California columbines. Following postdoctoral research at UC Davis on the evolution of California’s serpentine-endemic plants, including blue-eyed Mary, wallflowers and jewelflowers, he returned to SCU in 2007 as a professor of Biology.

Prof. Whittall works closely with undergraduates to uncover the mysteries of plant ecology and evolution, with research ranging from the conservation of rare Santa Clara County plants – including jewelflowers, columbines, liveforevers and Hoita (a small genus of legumes containing three species) – to the evolution of flower color and hummingbird pollination in California’s native flora.