Jun 09 2026
Hummingbirds seem almost impossible the first time you watch one closely. A bird scarcely larger than a thumb can stop in midair, dart backward, defend a flower patch from rivals, and disappear across the yard before your eyes can follow it. These tiny birds belong to the hummingbird family, Trochilidae, and occur naturally only in …
Nov 16 2025
Few birds have earned a reputation for intelligence quite like the African Grey Parrot. With elegant silver-gray plumage, a brilliant red tail, an expressive pale face, and an extraordinary talent for vocal learning, this African parrot has fascinated scientists, bird enthusiasts, and companion-bird keepers for generations. But the African Grey Parrot is much more than …
May 28 2025
Few birds live up to their name as perfectly as the Bumblebee Hummingbird. Barely larger than a large insect, this remarkable hummingbird can hover among mountain flowers while its rapidly moving wings create a distinct buzzing sound. The Bumblebee Hummingbird (Selasphorus heloisa) is one of the smallest birds in the world. Measuring only about 7 …
May 24 2024
New Zealand is one of the most extraordinary places in the world for birds. Long geographic isolation, the absence of native terrestrial mammalian predators other than bats, and an enormous range of habitats allowed birds to evolve in ways rarely seen elsewhere. Some became flightless. Others filled ecological roles that mammals occupy on other continents. …
Mar 03 2024
Tropical birds include some of the most colorful, unusual, and specialized birds on Earth. Brilliant macaws sweep over rainforest canopies, hummingbirds hover beside flowers, toucans reach for fruit with enormous bills, and quetzals disappear almost magically into green cloud forests. In other parts of the tropics, hornbills, sunbirds, cassowaries, parrots, kingfishers, and birds-of-paradise occupy equally …
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
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, …
