page_title: Eye color
section_title: Hazel
hierarchical_section_title: Eye color / Eye color chart (Martin scale) / Hazel
caption_attribution_description: English: A hazel-colored eye
context_page_description: Eye color is a polygenic phenotypic character determined by two distinct factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris.
  In humans, the pigmentation of the iris varies from light brown to black, depending on the concentration of melanin in the iris pigment epithelium, the melanin content within the iris stroma, and the cellular density of the stroma. The appearance of blue and green, as well as hazel eyes, results from the Tyndall scattering of light in the stroma, a phenomenon similar to that which accounts for the blueness of the sky called Rayleigh scattering. Neither blue nor green pigments are ever present in the human iris or ocular fluid. Eye color is thus an instance of structural color and varies depending on the lighting conditions, especially for lighter-colored eyes.
  The brightly colored eyes of many bird species result from the presence of other pigments, such as pteridines, purines, and carotenoids. Humans and other animals have many phenotypic variations in eye color.
  The genetics and inheritance of eye color in humans is complicated.
context_section_description: Hazel eyes are due to a combination of Rayleigh scattering and a moderate amount of melanin in the iris' anterior border layer. Hazel eyes often appear to shift in color from a brown to a green. Although hazel mostly consists of brown and green, the dominant color in the eye can either be brown/gold or green. This is how many people mistake hazel eyes to be amber and vice versa. This can sometimes produce a multicolored iris, i.e., an eye that is light brown/amber near the pupil and charcoal or dark green on the outer part of the iris (or vice versa) when observed in sunlight.
  Definitions of the eye color hazel vary: it is sometimes considered to be synonymous with light brown or gold, as in the color of a hazelnut shell.
caption: Hazel eye
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 600D", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 8.2 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2013:12:01 10:52:52", "Image Artist": "Paul-Albin Bertoye", "Image Copyright": "All rights reserved.", "Image ExifOffset": "276", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "790", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "15035", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:12:01 11:46:19", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:12:01 11:46:19", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "5906891/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-1/3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "50", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "27", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "27", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "243076244772", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000000000"}