warning coloration

noun

: conspicuous markings or bright colors possessed by an animal that serve as a warning to potential predators that it is toxic or distasteful

The vivid orange, red, black and white color patterns on the wings are a monarch's advertisement to potential predators. This warning coloration enables a bird such as a blue jay, which might eat one poisonous monarch and become ill, to recognize and avoid the butterfly by sight alone in the future.

—Marcia Davis

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Zoologists say the warning coloration helps the small mammal deter predators. —Natasha Daly, National Geographic, 12 Jan. 2023

Why don't other animals copy this warning coloration? —Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 23 June 2011

The striking bright blues, yellows, and oranges of poison dart frogs are a classic example of warning coloration, sending a message to predators to stay away. —Michael Allen, Science | AAAS, 13 June 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

warning coloration

noun

: bright color patterns on an animal (as an insect) that serve to warn possible predators that the animal is undesirable as prey (as by being poisonous or bad-tasting)