Photo : Bird (Beauty Of Nature)

This article is about the ten of the most brightly colored birds on earth, but there are no doubt many more to see. Enjoy these amazing pictures of birds.

1. The Golden Pheasant

golden-pheasant

One of the world’s most attractive birds is the Golden or “Chinese Pheasant, which is actually a gamebird native in mountainous areas of western China, though they do breed successfully in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The adult male is three and a half feet long, the tail accounting for 65% of that length. Unforgettable in appearance, with golden crest, rump and bright red body, the deep orange “cape” can be spread in display, appearing as an alternating black and orange fan that covers all of the face, except for the  bright yellow eyes with  pinpoint black pupils. A truly stunning bird to look at.

2a  The Blue Bird of Paradise

The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae. The majority of species in this family are found on the island of New Guinea and its satellites, with a few species occurring in the Moluccas of Indonesia  and eastern Australia. The family has forty species, and+are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of most species, in particular highly elongated and elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings or head. For the most part they are confined to dense rain forest habitat. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and some insects.

2b.  The lesser Bird of Paradise

3. The Rainbow Lorikeet

Billed often as the most beautiful bird in North America, the male Painted Bunting, with beautiful colors, dark blue head, green back, red rump and lower body parts, make it easily identifiable, though it hides well in foliage, even when it sings, so it is not always easy to spot. Both female and juvenile Painted Buntings are colored green and yellow-green, which acts as camouflage, and this lovely bird is found normally in brushy areas,  thickets and roadsides, in gardens and urban areas.

4. The Astounding male Peacock

The male Peacock is known throughout the world as a truly stunning example of a colorful male bird making itself as attractive as possible to impress the females of the species. This really is a sight never to be forgotten once experienced, and thankfully yhe Peacock is fairly common around the world.

5.  The Keel Billed Toucan

The Sulfur-breasted or Rainbow-billed Toucan, more often referred to as the Keel-billed, is a South American bird of outstanding colors. With its  large bill, this bird has been adopted as  the national bird of Belize. The species is to be found widely as a forest dweller, from Southern Mexico, Venezuela, through to Colombia. Found usually in the canopies of various rain forests,as high up as 6,000ft, these birds  roost, often with others, in holes in trees, which can be so cramped that  they have to  tuck tails and beaks under bodies to save space while asleep.

6. The glorious Painted Bunting

Billed often as the most beautiful bird in North America, the male Painted Bunting, with beautiful colors, dark blue head, green back, red rump and lower body parts, make it easily identifiable, though it hides well in foliage, even when it sings, so it is not always easy to spot. Both female and juvenile Painted Buntings are colored green and yellow-green, which acts as camouflage, and this lovely bird is found normally in brushy areas,  thickets and roadsides, in gardens and urban areas.

7. The Scrumptious Scarlet Macaw

You might find it hard to believe that a Scarlet Macaw only weighs about one kilogram, because this large, colorful bird, around a foot and a half long, because the stunningly bright colors make it seem so much bigger. Thing is that more than half the body length is taken up by the enormous tail , typical among the species macaws. Plumage is overwhelmingly scarlet, but with rump and tail feathers  of light blue, greater upper-wing yellow, the upper flight feathers dark blue, along with ends of tail feathers. Undersides of wing and tail flight feathers are dark red with metallic gold iridescence, while some macaws have green in the wings. Native to humid evergreen forests in American tropics regions, their large  range covers areas from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, usually in lowland areas up to 3,300 ft above sea level. These glorious birds are under threat due to habitat destruction and trapping for the parrot trade.

8. The Stunning Scarlet Tanager

An extremely pretty, but relatively small example of bird beauty is the Scarlet Tanager, an American songbird belonging to the cardinal family. The species plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family, but are especially noticeable in this creature because it stands out so much in its usual surroundings.

9. The beautiful Mountain Blurbird

One small but truly beautiful creature is the Mountain Bluebird, which only weighs about an ounce,  and stands between six to eight inches long. Light colored underbellies and black eyes are complimented in males by bright blue upper plumage. Mountain Bluebirds are  migratory, range varying from Mexico in winter to Alaska, and generally throughout the western U.S. and Canada.

10. The Wonderfully colorful Wood Duck

Ducks might not be an immediate choice for a beauty contest, but one species, the Wood Duck or Carolina Duck is decidedly in the frame in any beauty contest. Adults are normally around 19in long, average wingspan around 30 in, around 75% the length of an adult Mallard. It belongs to the same family as the Asian Mandarin Duck, living mainly around shallow lakes, marshes or ponds across the USA and in the west of Mexico. Normally nesting in trees close to water, in convenient holes, though they have been known to use nest boxes, where available. These birds have personalities that are normally shy, but they are truly gorgeous.

These are ten of the most colorful birds you could ever see, but nature has so much more to show you if you only take the trouble to look properly.