Black birds with green heads

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The world is full of beautiful coloured birds, and some might think that black birds are boring, but put in a flash of colour and wow. This article will look at some black birds which have green heads, although some might be more green than others. When researching this article I was surprised at the lack of black birds with green heads. I have managed to find ten which are listed below. They are shown with images to aid identification and other interesting information.

A list of 10 Black birds with green heads. (All images shown are of the male of the species)

Common Grackle
Splendid Astrapia
Ribbon-tailed Astrapia
Stephanie’s Astrapia
Paradise Tanager
Black Sunbird
Velvet Asity
Long-billed Sunbird
Paradise Riflebird
Amethyst Sunbird

1. Common Grackle (Scientific name – Quiscalus quiscula)

This well known bird is sometimes difficult to decide on its colour as it is much dependent on the light. It has glossy iridescent colours of blue-greens to its head, and black-purple to the plumage on its body. A gregarious bird who likes to be high up in the trees in social groups which can cause a little noise. Can also be seen strutting around on the ground in search of a meal.

Conservation Status

Unfortunately this lively bird is now on the IUCN red list for birds as “Near Threatened”, due to the population declining by -61.4% over the last 40 years. Although there is now a report of a possible slow down of the reduction of their population which is positive news, (BirdLife International, 2023).

Measurements	Length – 28 – 34 cm Wingspan – 34 – 36 cm Weight – 74 – 142g
Native to	North America
Habitat	Grassland, forest edges, meadows, marshes, swamps
Diet	Omnivore – Mainly seed, crops and insects, spiders, grasshoppers fish, frogs & other birds

Range map of the Common Grackle

image of a splendid Astrapia bird of paradise

2. Splendid Astrapia (Scientific name – Astrapia splendidissima)

Splendid indeed, this amazing bird of paradise is the smallest member of the Astrapia family, however this does not distract from its beauty. A mainly a black bird with an iridescent green head, face and underbelly. It also has a black tail with white feathers on the upper part of the tail from the base as seen in the image above.

Conservation status

There are no concerns over the population of these birds, who have a least Concern (LC) status with the IUCN. (BirdLife International, 2023)

Measurements	Length – 37 – 39 cm Weight – 108 – 151g
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Habitat	Montane forests & forest edges
Diet	Mostly fruits, also frogs, arthropods, and lizards

Range map of the Splendid Astrapia

image of a ribbon-tailed astrapia another bird of paradise

3. Ribbon-tailed Astrapia (Scientific name – Astrapia mayeri)

Another beautiful bird of paradise, the Ribbon-tailed Astrapia shown in the image above, is a wonderful example of a black bird with a green head. As its name suggests it has a magnificent ribbon like white tail which can measure up to one metre in length.

Conservation status

Although this bird has a status of least concern (LC) with the IUCN, it is noted that there is a very slow decline of the population due to the loss of habitat. But due to the large range of this bird it does not meet the class of vulnerable status. It continues to be monitored. (BirdLife International, 2023)

Measurements	Length – 32 – 35 cm Weight – 102 – 164g
Native to	Endemic to central mountains of Papua New Guinea
Habitat	Montane, sub-alpine forests
Diet	Mainly fruit, also insects, spiders, frogs

Range map of the Ribbon-tailed Astrapia

range map of ribbon-tailed astrapia bird

image of stephanies astrapia bird of paradise

4. Stephanie’s Astrapia (Scientific name – Astrapia stephaniae)

The impressive Stephanie’s Astrapia is a further imposing bird of paradise. As you can see from the above image they are mainly black with an iridescent green head, bib and black breast which is boarded by a thin gold line. Their tails are black and around 47cms long, so not quite as long as the Ribbon-tailed Astrapia.

Conservation status

These birds have a status of least concern (LC) with the IUCN, as it is thought their numbers are stable. (BirdLife International, 2023).

Measurements	Length – 33 – 37 cm Weight – 123 – 169g
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Habitat	Montane forest
Diet	Mainly fruit, insects, spider, frogs

Range map of Stephanie’s Astrapia

image of the little paradise tanager bird

5. Paradise Tanager (Scientific name – Tangara chilensis)

An outstanding colourful little bird with a marvellous green head and face which looks like a mask. They are black on the upper body plumage. Dark blue – purple bib and wing flashes with a brilliant light blue chest and underbelly as you can see in the beautiful image above. The image below shows one with red on its back and depending on the sub-species there are ones with red, yellow to the base and yellow-orange on the back as seen in the images below.

image of paradise tanager with yellow orange back

Paradise Tanager Yellow – orange back

image of paradise tanager with red patch on the back

Paradise Tanager with red patch on their back

image of paradise tanager showing red patch to he base feathers

Paradise Tanager with red base

image of paradise tanager with yellow patch of feather to the base

Paradise Tanager with yellow at the base

Conservation status

Status is least concern (LC) according to the IUCN. Although recognised there may be a trend of decline in the population, at the moment it does not meet the threshold of vulnerable status. (BirdLife International, 2023)

Measurements	Length – 13 – 15 cm Weight – 18 – 21g
Native to	South America
Habitat	Tropical & Subtropical forests
Diet	Fruit, arthropods

Range map of the Paradise Tanager

6. Black Sunbird (Leptocoma sericea)

The black sunbird as above, is a handsome jet black bird with a green cap and a purple bib, both iridescent and changes colours with the light. This little songbird has quite a long downturned beak and long tongue allowing them to access nectar. It is reported that some flowering plant species have evolved to allow only the sunbirds to feed from them, becoming their only pollinators.

Conservation status

The population of these birds is stable and therefore are at least concern (LC) status on the IUCN listing. (BirdLife International, 2023)

Measurements	Length – 11 – 11.5 cm Weight – 8g
Native to	Indonesia & Papua New Guinea
Habitat	Tropical & subtropical forests
Diet	Mainly nectar, some fruits and anthropoids

Range map of the Black Sunbird

7. Velvet Asity (Scientific name – Philepitta castanea)

The Velvet Asity is a short dumpy black bird with bright electric green featherless wattles above their eyes and at the base of the beaks, which certainly make them stand out.

Conservation status

Although the population trend appears to be in decline with this little bird, it has an overall large range and therefore has a status of least concern (LC) according to the IUCN (BirdLife International, 2023).

Measurements	Length – 9 – 16 cm
Native to	Endemic to Madagascar
Habitat	Tropical & subtropical forests
Diet	Fruits & nectar

Range map of the Velvet Asity

Image of the Loten's sunbird from the back view

8. Loten’s sunbird or also known as Long-Billed Sunbird – (Cinnyris lotenius)

Although the little bird’s main colours look black, they also look purple depending on the light. They have an iridescent blue head as shown in the above image.

The image below shows the front of this wonderful bird. It looks like it has a purple sheen to its bib, and a maroon coloured breast with a red line between it and the bib.

Again as other sunbirds it has a downturned long beak which allows it to access flowers for nectar.

another image of the Loten's sunbird from front view

Conservation status

The IUCN showed this species to have least concern status (LC) (BirdLife International, 2023).

Measurements	Length – 12 -13 cm
Native to	Endemic to the peninsular of India & Sri Lanka
Habitat	Forest & urban areas
Diet	Mainly nectar, some fruits and anthropoids

Range Map of the Loten’s Sunbird

Image of the paradise riflebird with fruit in its mouth

9. Paradise Riflebird (Scientific name – Ptiloris paradiseus)

Another impressively striking black bird with a green head is the Paradise Riflebird as seen in the above image. They are quite a large black bird with a metallic iridescent green – blue colouring to the crown, and a triangular breast shield. They have a long downturned beak, with a bright yellow colouring to the inside of the mouths.

The image below illustrates how the male throws its wings up in the air in a courtship display, you can see also how they open their mouths to show the flash of the bright yellow colouring. It is quite impressive.

another image of the paradise riflebird in a courting pose wing wing in the air and beak open showing bright yellow inside the mouth

Conservation status

Although the IUCN report the population trend of these birds is decreasing it is not sufficient to make too much impact currently and therefore it has a status of least concern (LC) (BirdLife International, 2023).

Measurements	Length – 29 – 30 cm Weight – 86 – 155g
Native to	Eastern Australia
Habitat	Subtropical & temperate rainforest
Diet	Mainly insect & spiders some fruit

Range map of the Paradise Riflebird

10. Amethyst Sunbird (Scientific name – Chalcomitra amethystina)

The Amethyst sunbird is an attractive large black bird, with an iridescent metallic green cap and purple throat as the image above shows. Again it has a large thin downturned beak.

Conservation status

With a stable population these birds are listed as least concern (LC) on the IUCN list. (BirdLife International, 2023).

Measurements	Length – 13 – 14 cm
Native to	Afrotropical
Habitat	Forests, woodlands, moist scrubland
Diet	Nectar, insects, termites, spiders

Range map off the Amethyst Sunbird

image of the range map for the Amethyst sunbird

In summary:

I hope you enjoyed this article and seeing the birds within it. As I said in the introduction it was more difficult than thought to find black birds with green heads.

If you have any birds that come to mind that fit the description please contact me. I would be interested to find more.

Also if you have enjoyed reading about the black birds there are a further two articles I have written with black birds one with white beaks, and one with yellow beaks both have some fantastic images and information. You can find them on the following link;

https://www.birdfinder.co/black-bird-with-a-white-beak/

https://www.birdfinder.co/a-list-of-22-black-birds-with-yellow-beaks/

Any feedback or comment please do not hesitate to contact Birdfinder.co, we are alway keen to have any positive feedback.