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Common Poorwill Common Raven Common Redpoll Common Tern Common Yellowthroat Connecticut Warbler Cooper’s Hawk Cordilleran Flycatcher Costa’s Hummingbird Couch’s Kingbird Crescent-chested Warbler Crested Caracara Crissal Thrasher Curve-billed Thrasher Dark-eyed Junco Dickcissel Double-crested Cormorant Dovekie Downy Woodpecker Dunlin Dusky Flycatcher Dusky Grouse Eared Grebe Eastern Bluebird Eastern Kingbird Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Phoebe Eastern Screech-Owl Eastern Towhee Eastern Whip-poor-will Eastern Wood-Pewee Elegant Tern Elf Owl Emperor Goose Eurasian Collared-Dove Eurasian Tree Sparrow Eurasian Wigeon European Starling Evening Grosbeak Ferruginous Hawk Field Sparrow Fish Crow Flammulated Owl Florida Scrub-Jay Forster’s Tern Fox Sparrow Franklin’s Gull Fulvous Whistling-Duck Gadwall Gambel’s Quail Gila Woodpecker Gilded Flicker Glaucous Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Glossy Ibis Golden Eagle Golden-cheeked Warbler Golden-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Sparrow Golden-crowned Warbler Golden-fronted Woodpecker Golden-winged Warbler Grace’s Warbler Grasshopper Sparrow Gray Catbird Gray Flycatcher Gray Kingbird Gray Partridge Gray Vireo Gray-cheeked Thrush Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Great Black-backed Gull Great Blue Heron Great Cormorant Great Crested Flycatcher Great Egret Great Gray Owl Great Horned Owl Great Kiskadee Great-tailed Grackle Greater Pewee Greater Prairie-Chicken Greater Roadrunner Greater Sage-Grouse Greater Scaup Greater White-fronted Goose Greater Yellowlegs Green Heron Green Jay Green-tailed-towhee Green-winged Teal Groove-billed Ani Gull-billed Tern Gunnison Sage-Grouse Gyrfalcon Hairy Woodpecker Hammond’s Flycatcher Harlequin Duck Harris’s Hawk Harris’s Sparrow Heermann’s Gull Henslow’s Sparrow Hepatic Tanager Hermit Thrush Hermit Warbler Herring Gull Hoary Redpoll Hooded Merganser Hooded Oriole Hooded Warbler Horned Grebe Horned Lark Horned Puffin House Finch House Sparrow House Wren Hudsonian Godwit Hutton’s Vireo Inca Dove Indigo Bunting Ivory-billed Woodpecker Juniper Titmouse Kentucky Warbler Killdeer King Eider King Rail Kirtland’s Warbler Ladder-backed Woodpecker Lapland Longspur Lark Bunting Lark Sparrow Laughing Gull Lawrence’s Goldfinch Lazuli Bunting Le Conte’s Sparrow Le Conte’s Thrasher Least Bittern Least Flycatcher Least Grebe Least Sandpiper Least Tern Lesser Black-backed Gull Lesser Goldfinch Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lesser Scaup Lesser Yellowlegs Lewis’s Woodpecker Limpkin Lincoln’s Sparrow Little Blue Heron Loggerhead Shrike Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Long-eared Owl Long-tailed Duck Louisiana Waterthrush Lucifer Hummingbird Lucy’s Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Magnificent Frigatebird Magnificent Hummingbird Magnolia Warbler Mallard Mangrove Cuckoo Marbled Godwit Marsh Wren Masked Duck McCown’s Longspur Merlin Mew Gull Mexican Jay Mississippi Kite Montezuma Quail Mottled Duck Mountain Bluebird Mountain Chickadee Mountain Plover Mountain Quail Mourning Dove Mourning Warbler Mute Swan Nashville Warbler Neotropic Cormorant Northern Bobwhite Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Fulmar Northern Gannet Northern Goshawk Northern Harrier Northern Hawk Owl Northern Mockingbird Northern Parula Northern Pintail Northern Rough-winged Swallow Northern Saw-whet Owl Northern Shoveler Northern Shrike Northern Waterthrush Northwestern Crow Nuttall’s Woodpecker Oak Titmouse Olive-sided Flycatcher Orange-crowned Warbler Orchard Oriole Osprey Ovenbird Pacific Golden-Plover Pacific Loon Pacific-slope Flycatcher Painted Bunting Painted Redstart Palm Warbler Pectoral Sandpiper Pelagic Cormorant Peregrine Falcon Phainopepla Philadelphia Vireo Pied-billed Grebe Pigeon Guillemot Pileated Woodpecker Pine Grosbeak Pine Siskin Pine Warbler Pinyon Jay Piping Plover Plain Chachalaca Plumbeous Vireo Prairie Falcon Prairie Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Purple Finch Purple Gallinule Purple Martin Purple Sandpiper Pygmy Nuthatch Pyrrhuloxia Razorbill Red Crossbill Red Knot Red Phalarope Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-breasted Merganser Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-breasted Sapsucker Red-cockaded Woodpecker Red-eyed Vireo Red-faced Warbler Red-headed Woodpecker Red-naped Sapsucker Red-necked Grebe Red-necked Phalarope Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-throated Loon Red-winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Redhead Ring-billed Gull Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Rock Pigeon Rock Ptarmigan Rock Sandpiper Rose-breasted Grosbeak Roseate Spoonbill Roseate Tern Ross’s Goose Rough-legged Hawk Royal Tern Ruby-crowned Kinglet Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ruddy Duck Ruddy Turnstone Ruffed Grouse Rufous Hummingbird Rufous-capped Warbler Rufous-winged Sparrow Rusty Blackbird Sabine’s Gull Sage Sparrow Sage Thrasher Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow Sanderling Sandhill Crane Sandwich Tern Savannah Sparrow Say’s Phoebe Scaled Quail Scarlet Tanager Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Scott’s Oriole Seaside Sparrow Sedge Wren Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Sandpiper Sharp-shinned Hawk Sharp-tailed Grouse Short-billed Dowitcher Short-eared Owl Slate-throated Redstart Smith’s Longspur Smooth-billed Ani Snail Kite Snow Bunting Snow Goose Snowy Egret Snowy Plover Solitary Sandpiper Song Sparrow Sooty Grouse Sora Spotted Owl Spotted Sandpiper Spotted Towhee Sprague’s Pipit Spruce Grouse Steller’s Jay Stilt Sandpiper Summer Tanager Surf Scoter Surfbird Swainson’s Hawk Swainson’s Thrush Swainson’s Warbler Swallow-tailed Kite Swamp Sparrow Tennessee Warbler Thick-billed Murre Townsend’s Solitaire Townsend’s Warbler Tree Swallow Tricolored Heron Tropical Kingbird Trumpeter Swan Tufted Puffin Tufted Titmouse Tundra Swan Turkey Vulture Upland Sandpiper Varied Bunting Varied Thrush Vaux’s Swift Veery Verdin Vermilion Flycatcher Vesper Sparrow Violet-green Swallow Virginia Rail Virginia’s Warbler Warbling Vireo Western Bluebird Western Grebe Western Gull Western Kingbird Western Sandpiper Western Screech-Owl Western Tanager Western Wood-Pewee Western-Meadowlark Whimbrel White Ibis White-breasted Nuthatch White-crowned Pigeon White-crowned Sparrow White-eyed Vireo White-faced Ibis White-headed Woodpecker White-rumped Sandpiper White-tailed Hawk White-tailed Kite White-tailed Ptarmigan White-throated Sparrow White-throated Swift White-tipped Dove White-winged Crossbill White-winged Dove White-winged Scoter Whooping Crane Wild Turkey Willet Williamson’s Sapsucker Willow Flycatcher Willow Ptarmigan Wilson’s Phalarope Wilson’s Plover Wilson’s Snipe Wilson’s Warbler Winter Wren Wood Duck Wood Stork Wood Thrush Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Worm-eating Warbler Wrentit Yellow Rail Yellow Warbler Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Magpie Yellow-breasted Chat Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-headed Blackbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Vireo Yellow-throated Warbler Zone-tailed Hawk

12 Most Common Types of Black And Blue Birds

Black and blue birds (TOP 12)

Black and blue is one of the more pleasing color combinations seen in birds. Although it’s not as frequent as yellow and brown, several birds have contrasting black and blue plumage.

A black and blue color combination can help birds blend in with dark, shaded vegetation. For male birds, these colors also attract mates. They aren’t the only ones who love to watch birds with black and blue feathers. We do too!

See 12 of these bird species with beautiful black and blue plumage below.

 

#12 Eurasian Magpie

Eurasian Magpie

© Imran Shah

The Eurasian Magpie is a large, long-tailed, black and white bird. It has a stout black beak, and a black head, breast, and back. It also has black on the rump and under the tail. This contrasts with its bright white belly and shoulder. Eurasian Magpies have metallic blue iridescence on the wings and tail. In flight, we also see a large white patch on the rounded wings.

Within most of its range, no other bird has such a bold, black and white pattern, and long tail.

Eurasian Magpies live in woodlands, parks, in urban areas, and many other habitats. They occur throughout Europe and range south to Iran, and east to Mongolia, China, and eastern Russia.

 

#11 Blue Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

Photograph © Greg Lavaty.

The Blue Grosbeak is a hefty, sparrow-like bird with a large, conical bill. The male is a deep gorgeous blue with chestnut markings on black wings. It also has some black on the face and in the tail. The female Blue Grosbeak is mostly reddish-brown with just a hint of blue.

This species can be told from the Indigo Bunting by its chestnut wing bars and larger bill. It lives in brushy habitats and weedy fields in the southern half of the USA and in the Great Plains. The Blue Grosbeak also lives in Mexico and Central America.

 

#10 Black-Throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

The male Black-throated Blue Warbler is a small warbler with gray-blue upperparts, and black face and throat. It also has black wings with a small white spot, and a blackish tail. The rest of the underparts are white with black sides.

The female Black-throated Blue Warbler is mostly buff and dark brown with a small white spot in the wing, and some pattern on the face.

The only other species that look anything like this distinctive bird are the Siberian Blue Robin, and the Blackthroat. Both of these birds live in Asia, very far from the range of the Black-throated Blue Warbler.

This species breeds in the Great Lakes region east to Nova Scotia and south in the Appalachians. It mostly winters in the Caribbean.

 

#9 Blue Bunting

The Blue Bunting is a sparrow-sized bird with a deep, black, finch-like bill. The male is dark blue with light blue highlights on the head, shoulder, and rump. It also has black on the face, and in the wings and tail. Females are rich, reddish-brown with a black eye and bill.

The male can be told from the Indigo Bunting by its deeper, darker bill. The female Blue Bunting is recognized by her uniform plumage and dark bill.

This species loves the undergrowth of tropical, brushy habitats. On occasion, it occurs in southern Texas. However, most Blue Buntings live in the lowlands of Mexico and parts of northern Central America.

 

#8 Tree Swallow

tree swallow

tree swallow

The Tree Swallow is a small to medium-sized swallow species. It has metallic, green-blue upperparts, and white underparts. This swallow also has a small black bill, a bit of black on the face, long black wings, and a forked black tail.

Tree Swallows are the only swallow in North America with solid, green-blue upperparts and white underparts. These friendly and beautiful birds are common around lakes, rivers, and other wetlands. They breed in Alaska, Canada, and much of the northern USA. Tree Swallows also winter from South Carolina and California to Central America.

 

#7 Shining Honeycreeper

The Shining Honeycreeper is a tiny tanager species of rainforest in Central America. The male is deep blue with jet black in front of the eye, on the throat, and on the wings and short tail. It also has a long, curved, black bill, and bright yellow legs and feet. The female Shining Honeycreeper is shaped like the male but is green above and pale below with green-blue streaks.

This tiny bird lives in rainforests from southern Mexico to eastern Panama and adjacent Colombia. It is the only small bird in its range with yellow legs and a curved beak.

 

#6 Bee Hummingbird

Bee hummingbird

Image credits: https://www3.nhk.or.jp

The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world. About the same size as a large bug, this hummingbird has green-blue above and on the sides, and white underparts. The male has metallic, magenta on the head and throat, while the female lacks these colorful feathers.

Learn more: Bird Facts and Statistics

Both sexes of the Bee Hummingbird have black wings, a beady black eye, a black bill, and some bits of black on the head. This special little bird only lives in Cuba. In this limited range, it is the only tiny hummingbird species with white underparts, and a small white spot behind the eye.

 

#5 Cerulean Warbler

Cerulean Warbler

Photograph © Greg Lavaty.

The Cerulean Warbler is a small, pale warbler of the canopy. Male Cerulean Warblers are deep, cerulean blue above, and white below. They also have a narrow, gray-blue “necklace”, gray-blue streaks on the sides, and a small white eyebrow. This species has two white wing bars on blackish wings, a black bill, and a blue, black, and white tail.

Cerulean Warblers live in the upper levels of mature deciduous forests. It occurs from Minnesota and Missouri east to New York and southern Ontario. This species reaches its southern limit in Tennessee and Arkansas.

 

#4 Common Grackle

Common grackle

© Shawn McCready

The Common Grackle is a black bird with a long, wedge-shaped tail, pale eye, and strong black bill. It has metallic dark blue colors on its head, and can have blue-purple, dark green, or bronze highlights on its body.

Common Grackles are easily recognized by their black plumage with metallic iridescence, long, wedge-shaped tail, and pale eye. They flock together and are common in farm fields, suburbs, and other open habitats. This species occurs in central and eastern Canada, and the eastern USA west to Montana.

 

#3 Purple Martin

Purple Martin

The male Purple Martin is a big, dark swallow species. It has dark blue and purple iridescence on otherwise blackish plumage. In general, these shiny colors are found on the head and body while the forked tail and long wings are black.

This hefty swallow is a common sight around lakes and various places with “martin houses”. Purple Martins use these structures for nesting and occur wherever they are present. People have placed them near housing, lakes, and other places in parts of southern Canada and the eastern USA. In the west, Purple Martins are less common and only nest in tree cavities near the coast and in some montane regions.

 

#2 Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting

© Alan D. Wilson

The male Indigo Bunting is a small, sparrow-sized bird with deep, beautiful blue plumage. It also has black in the wings and tail, and has a bit of black in front of the eye. This bird has a smallish, conical gray and black bill, and gray legs.

In certain lighting, male Indigo Buntings can look entirely black. This is no illusion; the blue in this (and other) species is produced by the interaction of light waves with the structure of its feathers. In low light situations, they can appear more black than blue.

In most of its range, the Indigo Bunting is the only small, mostly blackish-blue or blue, finch-like bird with a blue-gray bill. They love brushy second growth in parts of southern Canada, the eastern USA, and the southwestern USA.

 

#1 Steller’s Jay

stellers jay

Photograph © Glenn Bartley.

Steller’s Jay is a fairly large bird with a tall, pointed crest. It’s head and throat are dull black with some white markings. The back and breast are dark blue-gray, and the rest of the bird is bright blue. It also has some dark barring in the wings and tail.

In their range, Steller’s Jays are easy to recognize. They are the only crested, black and blue jay in western North America. These noisy jays prefer coniferous forests and woodlands, but they aren’t shy. They also visit feeders and explore campgrounds to look for snacks.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of bird is black and blue?

Many bird species are black and blue. Two of these species are the Steller’s Jay and Indigo Bunting.

What bird looks like a blue jay but black?

The Steller’s Jay. This crested jay species with blue and black plumage replaces the Blue Jay in western states and provinces.

What bird is black with a blue back and wings?

The Steller’s Jay is a dark jay with a black head, blue back, and pretty, blue wings.

What bird is royal blue with a black head?

Steller’s Jays are royal blue with black heads.

About the Author

Patrick O'Donnell

Patrick O'Donnell has been focused on all things avian since the age of 7. Since then, he has helped with ornithological field work in the USA and Peru, and has guided many birding tours, especially in Costa Rica. He develops birding apps for BirdingFieldGuides and loves to write about birds, especially in his adopted country of Costa Rica.

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