Top 10 most brightly colored birds on earth

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. All images included with permission. All information taken from Wikipedia.