10 of the Most Beautiful Birds in the World (by a wildlife photographer
Birdwatchers love seeing any bird, but some are so special and beautiful that they achieve iconic status. I’ve watched and photographed birds all over the world. This list, with photos, introduces some of the most beautiful birds of the world
Resplendent Quetzal – Most Beautiful Birds of the World
Often considered in the running for the most beautiful bird in the world, the Resplendent Quetzal definitely lives up to its name and is worthy of being one of the most beautiful birds of the world.
Despite being found across central America, the Resplendent Quetzal is considered at risk of extinction because the cloud forest habitat in which it makes its home is under threat.
The long tail of the Resplendent Quetzal resembles a snake as it undulates behind the bird in flight. Both the Mayans and the Aztecs revered the bird and personified in the god Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent.
Fiery-throated Hummingbird
Hummers are pretty much everyone’s favourite world bird, but with 363 species to choose from, it’s difficult to select just one for this list. My pick from these jewels of the avian world is the fiery-throated hummingbird. At first glance, it might not look the most beautiful of the hummingbirds. Then it turns its head, the Sun catches its iridescent throat and the colours explode.
The fiery-throated hummingbird can only be found in the highlands of Costa Rica and the western part of Panama, but is worthwhile of seeking out. You can easily see them at hummingbird feeders within their range.
The fiery-throated hummingbird is a worthy representative of the whole hummingbird family, many of which could easily be included in any list of the most beautiful birds of the world.
Bald Eagle
Most of the world’s countries have a national bird, but few personify a nation’s identity like the Bald Eagle. A powerful fish-eating eagle, this raptor has become synonymous with democracy and freedom in the United States, and is an iconic symbol of the USA.
The Bald Eagle hunts by swooping down and catching fish near the surface in its talons, but is also an opportunistic feeder, eating carrion and pirating food from other bird.
Despite the name, Bald Eagles are white-headed rather than bald, the name relating to an older usage of the term bald.
Is it one of the most beautiful birds of the world? Not from a colour point of view, I’ll admit. However, it has a majesty about it, along with its handsome profile. These place it on this list of the most beautiful birds of the world.
Bearded Reedling – Most Beautiful Birds of the World
No ‘most beautiful’ list is complete without a ginger entry, and this list of the most beautiful birds of the world is no exception.
The entry for the auburn contingent is the beautiful Bearded Reedling, also known as the Bearded Tit. Ok, so the beard on the male is more like a moustache, but these cute bundles of orange feathers deserve their place.
These charismatic birds, a feature of reed beds across northern Europe and central Asia, are often heard before being seen. Their metallic ping signals their approach as they flit amongst the reeds.
They are best seen on sunny spring days without wind. Then, they show themselves perched, often legs akimbo, at the top of the reeds. Look for flying wisps of reeds in the air as a guide to where the bearded reedling rips it apart in the hunt for seeds.
Crimson Sunbird
The sunbird family fills the niche of the hummingbird in the Americas across Africa and southern Asia. As well as having similar beautiful bright colouring, sunbirds harvest nectar from plants in much the same way. They can seem to hover, but aren’t quite as manoeuvrable as their American cousins and don’t have the ability to fly backwards.
The crimson sunbird, shown in the picture, is typical of the sunbird family and lives in forests and parklands across southern Asia, ranging from Nepal to Borneo.
Glistening Green Tanager
The glistening-green tanager presents a lightning bolt of colour in the wet forests it inhabits. This bird perfectly matches its name. Its feathers are like a high viz jacket, except for a small grey and orange ear patch.
The bird is an acrobatic feeder, often hanging upside down in trees to find both insects and fruits. The glistening-green tanager’s range is limited to the Pacific slopes of the Andes in Ecuador and Colombia.
The glistening-green tanager is a worthy addition to the most beautiful birds of the world list.
Atlantic Puffin – Most Beautiful Birds of the World
One of those birds with cuteness overload, the Atlantic Puffin is the subject of millions of bird photographs. The Puffin’s rainbow bills, which give it its clownish looks, are an evolutionary miracle. These perfectly designed bills enable them to catch and carry multiple sand eels. Then, beaks stuffed, they fly back to the burrows containing their chicks, or pufflings. Remarkably, the puffin sheds its bill each winter and regrows it in the spring, specifically for this purpose.
Puffins mate for life and return to the same cliffs each summer to raise another brood.
If this list was ranking the cutest birds of the world, the puffin would be number 1. It still makes the list of the most beautiful birds of the world.
Greater Blue-eared Starling
All starlings are intelligent, inquisitive and noisy. Europeans may question a starling on a ‘most beautiful birds in the world’ list. But, even the Common Starling we are most familiar with turns from a drab brown to an iridescent slick of petrol colours when the Sun strikes their feathers.
The Greater Blue-eared starling starts off that way. A riot of blues and greens, it can be found across the Africa in the northernmost sub-Saharan zone. On the eastern side of the continent, it ranges south to South Africa. An omnivore, it loves fruit and feeds on grasshoppers and locusts. It will, however, happily snatch titbits off alfresco tables, especially in reserves like the Kruger.
Plate-billed Mountain Toucan
Many of the charismatic toucan family could have made this list of the most beautiful birds in the world.
I chose this one, the plate-billed mountain toucan for its stunning blue, green and yellow eye makeup, its patchwork quilt of body feathers, and its two-tone beak. And because I liked the photo.
The Plate-billed mountain toucan inhabits a height-restricted range in montane forests of the Andes, from Ecuador into southern Colombia. Mainly fruit eaters, they frequently feed their young meat, including snails, beetles, and other birds.
Andean Cock of the Rock
The Andean Cock of the Rock falls into the weird, rather than beautiful, category. A member of the Cotinga family, the Cock of the Rock is the national bird of Peru, and one of the most sought after birds in the Andean cloud forests.
The female is a fairly drab rust brown colour, but the male boasts a spectacular bright orange plumage with a raised crest which gives its head a very distinctive shape. The best, often the only, way to see these birds is at their early morning leks where males compete to attract the females.
The Andean Cock of the Rock has a close relative in the Guianan Cock of the Rock. That species looks similar, but is a dull orange which hampers its popularity compared to the main attraction above.
The Andean Cock of the Rock is on so many birdwatchers ‘must see’ list.
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