Colour is an integral, and striking, feature of many organisms, from the pigments that allow photosynthesis in plants to the vivid displays of birds. However, the function of one sort of colour, iridescence, is not yet fully understood. The striking feature of iridescence is that the colour changes with changing angle of viewing. This can make objects more conspicuous, but the changing patterns also have the potential to deceive and confuse. It is the latter that the new £768k BBSRC grant to Heather Whitney, Innes Cuthill and Nick Scott-Samuel will investigate, across birds, bees and humans.