Birds get their bright red, orange and yellow plumage from carotenoid pigments — responsible for many of the same bright colors in plants. But how songbirds turn carotenoids into the spectacular variety of feathered patches found in nature has remained a mystery. Now research might have pinpointed some of the genetic machinery responsible for the plumage coloration in Audubon’s and myrtle warblers, related but distinctly feathered North American songbirds.