Here from World Data and Info, which seems to specialize in lists, is a list of the world’s ten most beautiful birds. Here they are in order and at the video times they appear:
Chapters :
00:00 Highlight
00:38 Golden Pheasant
01:28 Macaw Parrots
02:21 Mandarin Duck
03:29 Peacock
04:41 Blue Jay
05:49 Atlantic Puffin
07:00 Flamingo
08:12 Keel-billed Toucan
09:24 Victoria Crowned Pigeon
10:46 Turaco
I can’t quarrel too much with the list (but seriously, the blue jay?); however, they left off the one bird I consider the world’s most beautiful: the male Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno),. I’ve had the luck to see several of these in the wild in Central America. The metallic green color, combined with the bright red breast and that long, dangling tail, make for a fantastic sight. Here’s one:
and a video:
There’s also the lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus):
Feel free to beef about the video selection and to suggest your own most beautiful birds.
Blue Jay made the list? I guess im jaded because i see that bird everyday. I would say painted bunting and bohemian waxwing are contenders to replace bluejay.
You two additions are glorious.
Starlings are under appreciated.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147630395@N03/53158799736
The superb starling (Lamprotornis superbus) is – well – superb. Also the Golden-breasted starling (Lamprotornis regius). Some very fancy starlings out there.
Yes, the quetzal is an egregious oversight on their part. In my opinion, it is the most beautiful and elegant bird in the world, if you also consider how it acts and how it looks in its habitat. The male flies like a feathered serpent, and the bird’s colors fit so well with the mossy cloud forest where it lives. When the male is incubating, in its hole nest, the long tail feathers hang out like iridescent fern fronds.
There is very little grace in a Blue Jay. A Bluebird would have been a better choice.
One worthy bird that always seems to be left off of these lists is the Himalayan Monal Pheasant:
https://www.ststworld.com/himalayan-monal/
Man, I didn’t even KNOW about that pheasant. It’s GORGEOUS!
Were Birds of Paradise on the list?
A very odd omission indeed!
As a diehard bird lover, I find all birds beautiful in their own way, but there are some that really stand out to me:
Painted Bunting
Rainbow Lorikeet
King Eider
American Kestrel
Ocellated Turkey
King Vulture
There are a large number of pheasants that live near Buffalo Bayou on the west side of Houston, Texas. I have seen two the past few years. Many others have seen them also.
Curious, since they are indigenous to South Asia
I agree with you about the quetzal. It’s always been my favorite, since I was a kid.
I love the additional suggestions, especially the painted bunting. I’ll add prothonotary warbler, black throated green warbler, and black throated blue warbler.
I think that bee-eaters are very beautiful. My favourite is the European bee-eater (Merops apiaster). It’s so colourful that it’s hard to believe it’s not a tropical species.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_bee-eater
There are far too many beautiful birds to choose ten only. But I will nominate one that I find especially so: the Wood Duck.
Birds in the US…
Swallowtailed Kite (while flying)
Harlequin Duck
Painted Redstart
South of the border…
Pink headed Warbler
Azure hooded Jay
Too many to narrow down.
I would not quarrel with anything (even the blue jay) on the list, nor with any of the suggested additions in the comments. There are hundreds more, too, and a lot depends on one’s definition of “beautiful,” which in the video seems to be used in the sense of “pretty.” Thus eliminating “striking” (bald eagle, yellow-headed blackbird, red-headed woodpecker), “cute” (piping plover, prothonotary warbler, black-capped chickadee), and “elegant” (black-throated blue warbler, cedar waxwing, hoopoe).
I’m a fairly new, but very enthusiastic birdwatcher, and have been suitably awe-stricken by many of the birds mentioned in the video and comments. I am a bit shocked that there are no hummingbirds, sunbirds, birds of paradise, or the quetzal, but then again, the list is only ten birds long.
And to be sure, what to me is the prettiest bird, even more stunning that the lilac-breasted roller, painted bunting, or golden-browed chlorophonia is the gouldian finch.
This is what the world needs now!
People outside NYC often think NY Magazine is some kind of authority or cultural zeitgeist representative.
It isn’t. It is not the New Woke Times or the NYer.
People here don’t read it.
I’ve read it a few times in the dentist’s office*, I’ve never paid for it. I’ve never met a NYer who has referenced it in 30 years. It is a small rag with a big masthead, no more than that.
D.A.
NYC
*Mainly b/c I don’t like golf!