Jan 28 2024
Hawaiʻi is one of the most extraordinary places in the world for birds. Isolated in the central Pacific Ocean for millions of years, the Hawaiian Islands became a natural laboratory of evolution, where birds arriving from distant lands gradually developed into species found nowhere else on Earth. Brilliant red honeycreepers move through flowering ʻōhiʻa forests. …
Jan 27 2024
The Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) may be small, but it is one of the most recognizable and approachable woodpeckers in North America. This energetic black-and-white bird is a familiar visitor to forests, parks, suburban neighborhoods, and backyard bird feeders, where its compact size allows it to forage in places that larger woodpeckers simply cannot reach. …
Jan 27 2024
Few backyard birds announce summer quite as brightly as the American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). A breeding male in full plumage seems almost impossibly yellow, with a brilliant lemon-colored body set against jet-black wings and a black forehead. Females are more subdued, but they share the species’ graceful shape, active feeding style, and distinctive bouncing flight. …
Jan 27 2024
With brilliant blue wings, a golden-yellow chest, an enormous black bill, and a tail nearly as impressive as its wingspan, the Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) is one of the most recognizable parrots in the world. Also called the Blue-and-gold Macaw, this large tropical parrot is native primarily to South America, where it inhabits forests, palm …
Jan 27 2024
Few birds are as instantly recognizable as the toucan. With an enormous, often brilliantly colored bill, dark plumage, bright patches of yellow, orange, red, or white, and an unmistakably tropical appearance, toucans seem almost too colorful to be real. But that extraordinary bill is far more than decoration. Toucans use their bills to reach fruit, …
Jan 27 2024
With its powder-blue plumage, deep maroon chest, brilliant red eyes, and an extraordinary crown of delicate feathers, the Victoria Crowned Pigeon (Goura victoria) hardly resembles the pigeons most people see in city parks. This spectacular tropical bird is one of the largest living members of the pigeon and dove family and is native to the …
Jan 27 2024
The Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is one of the most spectacular birds of the Americas. Famous for its shimmering emerald plumage, brilliant red breast, and the extraordinary flowing feathers of adult males, this cloud-forest bird has fascinated people for centuries. Resplendent Quetzals live in the cool, humid mountain forests of southern Mexico and Central America, …
Jan 27 2024
Few tropical birds are as instantly recognizable as the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao). With brilliant red plumage, golden-yellow wings, flashes of blue, and an enormous curved bill, this spectacular parrot is one of the most colorful birds of the American tropics. Scarlet Macaws live in forests stretching from parts of Mexico and Central America into …
Dec 16 2023
Few small birds seem as perfectly matched to the mountains as the White-winged Snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis). This hardy alpine bird lives among rocky slopes, high meadows, lingering snowfields, mountain passes, and windswept peaks where winters are long and conditions can change in minutes. Despite the word “finch” in its name, the White-winged Snowfinch is not …
Dec 16 2023
The Himalayan Rubythroat (Calliope pectoralis) is a striking mountain songbird found across the Himalayas and parts of Central Asia. Males are especially memorable, combining slate-gray plumage with a brilliant ruby-red throat, black breast, bold white eyebrow, and flashes of white in the tail. Despite those dramatic markings, the Himalayan Rubythroat can be surprisingly difficult to …
