Majestic Beauty: 10 Beautiful Birds You Should See

Beauty is not always about the face, and the body of this African vulturine guineafowl says it all. This is a large bird with a large round body and a small head connected by a long slender neck. An African vulturine guineafowl has longer legs, tails, and wings than other guineafowls. This is the unique feature that makes their beauty stand out along with the elegant coloration. The neck of the bird projects from a cape of long glossy hackles of blue and white colors. As for its chest, it is cobalt blue in color while the rest of the plumage is black. With everything together, they are clearly one of the most beautiful birds that people should see.

The African vulturine guineafowl is the largest extant species of guineafowl, and it inhabits primary forests in Central Africa. As large birds, they live in open habitats but tend to keep cover and roost in trees. Where they live, these gregarious birds form flocks of around 25 members outside the breeding season. They are terrestrial, and can be quite aggressive towards intruders even their own kind when it comes to competition for food or roosting areas. Even the chicks attack one another, making them quite fierce since birth. When there are dangers, these pretty birds will run away instead of flying since they are excellent runners. People often call them the “royal guineafowl” due to their striking appearance.

Looking almost 3D, waxwings are very fascinating birds that you don’t come across very often. Waxwings look similar to a common starling, but a bit bulkier as if a starling is getting chubby. These plump birds have a reddish-brown prominent crest with a black and reddish-brown throat. Their wings are yellow and white while their tails have yellow tips. The coolest part is the black masks around their eyes that make them look so fierce and sharp. Their range distributes from northern parts of Eurasia to North America. As social birds, they forage in large flocks of up to several hundred members. Bohemian waxwings are monogamous and they form pairs, and their breeding season starts from mid-June to July. There are 3 species of waxwings including Bohemian Waxwings, Cedar Waxwings, and Japanese Waxwings, and all of them look spectacular.

The Eurasian magpies have glossy black bodies, a metallic green and violet sheen, and pure white bellies and scapulars. As for the tails, they are black with glossy green and reddish-purple, making them quite gorgeous. The range of this magpie species extends across temperate Eurasia from Ireland and Spain to the Kamchatka Peninsula. These birds prefer to live in open countryside with scattered trees, and they usually avoid dense forests and treeless areas. Eurasian magpies are comical on the ground sometimes, walking with high steps or hopping sideways when excited. These birds are intelligent, and their abilities in causal reasoning, flexibility, imagination, prospection, and social cognition are remarkable. The most interesting part is that they are also capable of feeling complex emotions, including grief.

By the look, you can already tell that this is one of the beautiful birds whose appearance is quite unique. A great blue turaco has a bright blue body, rounded wings, long tail, and strong legs. However, the parts that stand out the most are the bright yellow bill with a red tip. These birds are found in Central and West Africa, living in rainforests and savanna areas with patches. As birds, they should be great flyers but no. The great blue turacos are weak flyers, but they are strong climbers instead. Thanks to their strong legs, they are able to move nimbly on branches and through vegetation with ease. Another thing is that they are arboreal, so they rarely come down to the ground besides to bathe or drink. Even so, their population is at risk due to deforestation, hunting, and trapping for meat and trade.

Hoatzin looks like a combination of different birds in one, making them one of the most beautiful birds. At a glance, you probably hoatzin is related to cuckoos, pheasants, or even pre-historic birds, but they are from their own family. Hoatzins belong to Opisthocomidae, and this bird species are found only in South America, especially in the Amazon Jungle. A hoatzin has blue facial skin with eyes in a small head topped by a reddish-brown crest. These birds have long necks, and their bodies are covered with dark and light brown feathers and white and yellow feathers. If you look at the tail, it is long and there are 10 loosely attached feathers there. Looking majestic and all, hoatzins are clumsy birds who rarely fly but make so much noise when they try to escape. The good thing is their population is doing fine.

Covered almost entirely in black color, Jackson’s widowbird is one of a kind. It has black plumage with a peak of orange underwing that flash as it flies along with a pale bill. This bird species occurs in Kenya and northern Tanzania, where they live in open grasslands. Just like many bird species, this one is also gregarious so they forage in flocks of several members. Large flocks may damage crops in rural small holdings sometimes when they forage. Jackson’s widowbirds feed on grass seeds and termite alates when there are any. Male Jackson’s widowbirds are highly territorial, polygamous, and solitary, and they have a lek mating system. The males will display at the dancing rings from mid-morning to late afternoon before going to feed. If a female likes his performance, she may approach him. This species is now considered Near Threatened due to habitat loss.

Australia is not always about creepy and scary animals, the beautiful ones exist too. Lyrebirds, for example, are one beautiful birds that live in the rainforests of eastern Australia. These birds have long striped tail feathers that curl outward at the ends which is their distinctive characteristic. Despite being a bird, they are ground dwellers who feed on insects, invertebrates, and small amphibians. These birds are not famous for their looks, but for their mimicry abilities instead. Lyrebirds learn to mimic calls from their surrounding environments, especially from other bids. A lyrebird classic is the imitation of human sounds like camera shutters, car alarms, chainsaws, and even crying babies. You will hear those sounds in the forest, could be still creepy, but their appearance makes them an interesting bird.

With an elegant appearance and eyelashes to die for, the secretary birds are without a doubt among the most beautiful birds. A secretary bird has long beautiful legs than can walk up to 20 miles per day. These birds can fly, but they spend most of their time on the ground looking for small animals to eat. Secretary birds have the star of my writing a while back because they are one of the animals that are immune to snake venom. So if there are some snakes that happen to crawl by when these birds are searching for food, them snakes will be on the menu too. The puffy feathers and thick scales on their legs protect them from snakebites on top of the special immunity.

Those legs kill, literally, because they are also powerful enough for the birds to stomp their prey to death. The top of their long legs has black feathers, making them look as if they’re wearing shorts. This is also how they got their name because lawyer clerks or secretaries wore knee-length black pants in the 19th century. Beauty and skills aside, the secretary birds are monogamous so they mate for life. The pairs build nests of sticks together, usually in an acacia tree where they live in and use for years. This species is now vulnerable to extinction due to human encroachment which leads to the loss of their natural habitat.

This is an eye-catching tropical bird with colorful plumage, but this beauty only exists with males due to sexual dimorphic. A male spangled cotinga has bright turquoise-blue plumage and a deep wine-red throat along with a black back, tail, and wings. As for the females, they have brown coloration which is less attractive than the males. These birds live in forests and jungles of northern South America where they feed on fruits and sometimes insects. They spend most of their time on the canopy, and the males like to perch on dead trees. At the moment, these beautiful birds are safe from hunting and other harms. Let’s hope that many other birds will have the same fortune like them.

Here is the largest pigeon species in the world, and one of the most beautiful birds on our list too. This majestic bird has blue-gray coloration across its body feathers along with a maroon patch on the front. It has red eyes, and there is a patch of dark-colored feathers around the eyes that make it look so sharp. Each Victoria crowned pigeon has 16 tail feathers instead of 12 like other pigeons. On top of its head is a collection of lacy-like feathers that resembles a crown; hence its name. The crest is so beautiful and large that people hunt these birds just for the crest on its head.

As omnivores, these charming pigeons feed on berries, fruits, seeds, and insects that they can find. In spite of being birds, they spend most of their time on the ground searching for food and walking. This also explains the strong feet with long toes that these pigeons have that help them with walking. They are able to fly, but they are often reluctant to do so unless threatened. You can find them in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the nearby islands. Victoria crowned pigeons are monogamous, but they will separate if they fail to produce eggs. Nowadays, the main threats to their population are habitat destruction for palm oils and hunting.

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