Exploring Nature: Beautiful Birds

Which are the top five best dressed birds?

Which five birds around the world have the best feather colors and patterns?

Well, one listing puts the golden-breasted starling as the very top bird. Males and females of this African beauty have the unique “oil sheen” gloss on their dark plumage, with dramatic green and blue highlights.

Second place goes to the Lady Amherst’s pheasant. The male of this species combines bold red, black and white colors and intricate scaling patterns. This lovely pheasant is found in the forested hills of southwestern China.

Third best plumage is on the lilac-breasted roller, a favorite of birders visiting eastern and southern Africa. It is arguably the most gorgeous of a dozen species of the roller family.

Fourth place goes to the mandarin duck. The male has a puffy mane and intricate patterning, combining rust, white, black and gray colors. It has been introduced both to England and California.

Fifth is the Indian peafowl, better known as a “peacock.” It is a most spectacular pheasant with a huge “train” fanned in full display and adorned with “eye spots” on its upper tail coverts.

I have seen displaying peacocks on the grounds of a fancy Austin restaurant, and I have seen a lilac-breasted roller in Africa.

But my own most spectacular list would have to include the resplendent quetzal, a turquoise, red and green trogon that I saw on a trip to Panama. This cloud forest denizen has a spectacular long tail up to two feet beyond the tail tip. It was revered by the Maya and Aztec who shared its world. Pre-Columbian cultures reserved quetzal feathers for nobility and killing one was a capital crime.

Finally, closer to home, the painted bunting is among the most colorful of North American birds, a veritable rainbow of colors, including red, green, yellow and blue. Wow.