I’ve always enjoyed seeing birds in the yard. Most of the birds I see in my area are generally small and monochromatic. I grew up learning about birds from my grandmother and she gave me a bird book when I was still a small child. The birds in this book astounded me. I’d never seen such colors and plumage on anything like them before. Thanks to the Internet, I’ve been able to explore the bird world even further. Here are what I believe to be the 10 most beautiful birds from around the world.
1. BOHEMIAN WAXWING
Photo Credit: Harley Mac
I think this bird is greatly overlooked, except by avid bird watchers. The beauty of this bird isn’t immediately visible, due to its mostly gray plumage. The Bohemian Waxwing has rose-colored feathers on its face that seem to gradually blend into the rest of its gray body. The tip of the mostly black tail appears to be dipped in vibrant yellow. The tuft at the top the Bohemian Waxwing’s head makes it even slightly comical, as well as beautiful.
2. PAINTED BUNTING
Photo Credit: –BP–
The male of this species is colored so randomly that it looks as if someone used the last little bits of paint in the palette to color him. Female Painted Buntings are sort of an olive green with lighter and darker hues of the same color spread over her plumage. The male, on the other hand, has a bright blue head, brilliant red chest and underside, vibrant yellow shoulders, and small patches of green on the upper wing portions. He is truly a mish-mosh of color.
3. BLUE JAY
Photo Credit: hoganphoto
This happens to be one bird that can be seen in the woods near my home, but not very often. These birds can be bullies to smaller birds. My family and I often refer to them as The Beasties. They can be heard taunting one another and then are usually seen chasing a smaller bird through the trees. The bright blue feathers that are intermingled with black bars and tipped with white always reminded me of a stained glass window. Blue is also my favorite color!
4. BLUE BIRD-OF-PARADISE
Photo Credit: tenseofthousands.blogspot.com
There are many varieties of bird-of-paradise. The Blue Bird-of-Paradise has gorgeous teal wings and a stark black head and neck for contrast. Teal plumage is also seen along the back of the bird, which has an additional patch of bright blue that shows up along the bottom of the teal feathers during the mating ritual. There are also two single tendrils of black feathers that stick out from the bird’s tail like a couple of antennae.
5. SCARLET MACAW
Photo Credit:bayucca
Even though this bird is called a Scarlet Macaw, the colors seen in its plumage consist of many more colors than simply red. The underside, head, and shoulders of this macaw are red, but then these feathers gradually change to vermilion, yellow, green, and finally blue at the tips of the wings. Some color variations have a bit of a purple tinge at the very tip of the wings, but usually the vibrant blue color more common. I love the rainbow wings on the Scarlet Macaw most of all.
6. BALTIMORE ORIOLE
Photo Credit: Brad Carlson’s Photos
Both the male and female of this bird species are brightly colored. I’ve always found this to be interesting since usually the male of each species is the only one with vibrant colors. The male Baltimore Oriole has a bright orange underbody and shoulders. As for the female, she has mostly yellow plumage with some black on her wings. The wings of the male and female Baltimore Oriole are patterned similarly with black and white bars.
7. PEACOCK
Photo Credit: pravin indrekar
Not only is this bird very pretty, but it is extremely graceful too. For such a large bird, I think the peacock is able to flaunt his tail well. The main portion of this bird’s body ranges between turquoise and bright blue. I’ve seen both hues on peacocks and sometimes it just the way the sun is hitting the feathers that causes this variation in color. The tail feathers make this bird even more beautiful.
8. SCARLET TANAGER
Photo Credit: Kyle McCreary
Usually Cardinals are the red-feathered birds seen in the trees around my home. However, occasionally I get a chance to see a Scarlet Tanager in the spring. These medium-sized birds only come with red bodies and black wings and tails if they are the male variety. The females are olive and yellow. The ‘scarlet’ feathers on this bird almost seem to have more of a vermilion hue to them. The muted black tail and wings go nicely with the vibrant red!
9. BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD
Photo Credit: dracobotanicus
I adore all hummingbirds, but I think the male Broad-billed is the most intriguing. The iridescent blue that spans from throat to belly begins in bright blue and finishes in a pale turquoise color. The beak is orange with a black tip, while most hummingbirds have a completely black beak.
10. GOULDIAN FINCH
Photo Credit: tim ellis
These tiny birds have plumage that is a collection of the most random colors I’ve ever seen. Although the colors seem to be placed haphazardly, I think this is a one of the prettiest birds I’ve come across. I used to use my crayons to decorate birds in my coloring book in a similar fashion when I was a kid. Colors seen in the plumage of these tiny birds consist of red, green, purple, black, yellow, turquoise, and olive.
These are the 10 most beautiful birds from around the world that I wish I could see all of the time. At least I get to enjoy a few of these species of bird during migration each spring. What birds do you think are some of the prettiest you’ve ever seen? Do you have a list of birds that you hope to see in your lifetime?
Top Photo Credit: pieway.com
