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In this article we will look at a list of 20 beautiful green birds. There will be information to help identify them. We will take a look at where in the world they live, their preferred habitat and diet.
Male Knysna turaco
The male Knysna turaco is an impressive looking specimen of a beautiful green bird, as you can see in the picture above. At around 40-42cms, this is quite a big bird. The bright green crest and upper plumage is such a stunning color, offset by the bright red eye ring and beak.
Native to
South Africa
Habitat
Evergreen tropical forests
Diet
Fruit, seeds, insects, earthworms
Male Glistening-green Tanager
You can imagine how this little bird glistens in the sunshine, as its name suggests. It has such a rich emerald green color, as seen in the above picture. It covers almost all its plumage, except for a small area behind its eyes of red & white spots, and gray on the ends of the wings and tail. These birds usually grow to around 13cms long.
Native to
Colombia & Ecuador
Habitat
Tropical & subtropical forests
Diet
Fruit & insects
Male Northern Emerald Toucanet
The male Northern Emerald Toucanet as in the picture above., has a lighter green on the breast and under belly than that on its back and wings. At around 30-35cms, this is a rather small species of toucan, but still very atractive.
Native to
Central America & Mexico
Habitat
Humid tropical forests
Diet
Mainly fruit, supplemented with insects, lizards, eggs & chicks of other birds
Male Shining-Green Hummingbird
This impressive looking little hummingbird, at around 9-9.5cms long, has the most wonderful lustrous green, blue coloring, almost jewel-like in appearance, and as its name suggests you could image how it shines in the sunlight.
Native to
Colombia & Venezuela
Habitat
Tropical & subtropical forests, shrub land
Diet
Nectar
Male Short-tailed Emerald Hummingbird
Another stunning hummingbird species, a little smaller than the previous hummingbird at around 6.9-8.5cms in length. A sparkling emerald green makes this a very attractive bird, which can be seen in the picture above.
Native to
Colombia & Venezuela
Habitat
Tropical & subtropical forests, shrub land
Diet
Nectar
Male Santa Marta Sabrewing Hummingbird
This is a very rare bird, thought to be extinct, and has only been recorded twice since its official discovery in 1946 as discussed in a recent article. (New Scientist, 2022). A pretty hummingbird at 13cms long, as shown in the picture above this male Santa marta sabrewing has a radiant emerald green plumage along with blue colored throat, making this another beautiful green bird.
Native
This bird is endemic to the Santa Marta mountains of Colombia
Habitat
Tropical rain forests
Diet
Due to nature of the rarity of this bird it is assumed they have nectar as their main diet
Male Green breasted mango hummingbird
Another beautiful emerald hummingbird, this one is around 11-12cms. As seen in the above picture, the main plumage is green but their wings and tails are a brown-purple color.
Native to
Central & southern America & Mexico
Habitat
Forest edges, open areas in tropical lowlands
Diet
Nectar & insects
Male Green Jay
A splendid looking bird with two tone green plumage on the breast, back, wings and tail, whilst the head is blue and black as seen above. At 25-29cms long these are quite a large bird.
Native to
North America
Habitat
Open woodland & forests
Diet
Various insects, lizards, rodents, eggs & chick of other birds
Male Pacific Parrotlet
At between 11-14cms this cute bird is the smallest of the parrot family. It appears to have different shades of green plumage. The male has a streak of blue behind its eye as observed in the picture above.
Native to
South America, Ecuador & Peru
Habitat
Tropical forests, woodlands
Diet
Fruit, berries, seeds, blossoms
Male Grass-green Tanager
This charming, aptly named bird has a lush green plumage and is quite striking with its red face and bill against the brightness of the green, it would be easy to identify. They are usually up to 20cms in length.
Native to
South America
Habitat
Subtropical forests
Diet
Fruit mainly, supplemented with insects
Male Red-Necked Tanager
Again another aptly named Tanager, this has the red colored neck but its main color is green, as seen above. It also has blue, yellow and black colors. An attractive colorful looking bird at around 12-15cms in length.
Native to
South America
Habitat
Tropical & sub- tropical
Diet
Fruit, berries, insects
Male Violet green swallow
At around 12cms, this green swallow looks quite regal in the picture above. If seen in the sunlight their colors look somewhat different in that they the green looks iridescent and metallic as does the purple on their tails.
Native to
North America
Habitat
Mountains, open forests, urban areas
Diet
Flying insects
Male Green Honeycreeper
The male honeycreeper is a brilliant glossy green – blue colored bird, with a black head and yellow beak and red eyes making it a dazzling looking bird. Their average length is around 13-14cm.
Native to
Mexico & South America
Habitat
Tropical lowlands & evergreen forests
Diet
Fruit & nectar supplemented with insects
Male Great green Macaw / Military Macaw
At between 85-90cms this is a very large bird and as its suggested by its name it is almost all green. They have a distinct red forehead, blue primary feather on their wings and blue and red and sometimes yellow on their tail feathers. A handsome bird as you can see from the picture above.
Native to
Central & South America
Habitat
Dry tropical forests & forest edges
Diet
Seed, fruits, Flowers, bulbs, roots, bark, hard shelled nuts
Male Indian Ringneck Parakeet
At nearly half the size of the previous bird we looked at, this is still quite a big bird at 40cms in length. As the picture above shows they are mainly green with black and rose color rings around their necks as suggested in their name. They also have green/blue tail feathers and yellow under their wings and a lovely rose colored beak.
Native to
As the name suggest this was initially an Indian bird, however it is now naturalized in a number of places in Asia and other areas of the world
Habitat
Humid forests, Lightly timbered areas and open farmland
Diet
Seed, nuts, vegetables, berries, nectar
Male & female Orange winged Amazon Parrot
These parrots are a little smaller at around 30cms in length. The male and female are similar, however the male has more blue on the forehead, while the female has yellow as can be seen above. They are mostly green with orange flecks in their wing feathers as their name suggests.
Native to
South America Amazon regions
Habitat
Varied habitats, mangroves, swampy forests, savannas, dry woodlands
Diet
Seeds,fruit, berries, blossoms, flowers
Male Eclectus parrot
Another strikingly beautiful green bird is this male Eclectus parrot. His mainly bright emerald green feathers and his bright orange beak make this a bird that stands out. As you can see from the picture above they also have red and blue feathers under their wings. A medium sized parrot at around 34cms in length.
Native to
Solomon Islands, Sumba, New Guinea and islands, Northeastern Australia, and the Muluka Islands
Habitat
Rainforests & Eucalypt woodlands
Diet
Fruit, nuts, seeds
Male & Female Lovebirds
Probably one of the most well known of the parrot family are the lovebirds. At around 10-16cms the very cute looking male and female look very much alike, although the males head is less round and the females may have a thicker eye ring as seen in the picture above. They tend to be green with a peachy pink face and breast, although there are different colors that have been bred.
Native to
Mainland Africa and madagascar
Habitat
Forests, woodland & savanans
Diet
Seed, berries, fruit, grain
Male Pacific parrotlet
A beautiful green bird at around 12-13cms, as you can see from the picture above. These are mainly green, with the male having a blue streak behind the eye.
Native to
Mexico, Central & South America
Habitat
Semi open tropical forest and open woodland
Diet
Fruit, berries, cactus
Male Resplendent quetzal
The Male Resplendent quetzal as seen above has to be one of the most stunning of green birds. At around 36-40cms it is quite a large bird. With its iridescent green plumage and the rich red of its lower breast and belly, makes it look captivating to see.
Native to
Central America & Mexico
Habitat
Rain forests, evergreen forests
Diet
Fruit, insects, small lizards
In summary
I hope you have enjoyed looking at the twenty different kinds of beautiful green birds in this article. There have been some stunning colors, and different spices of birds too. We have seen what they look like with the aid of pictures and where in the world we would find them. Information on their habitats and diets have also been discussed.