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Abert’s Towhee Acadian Flycatcher Acorn Woodpecker Alder Flycatcher Allen’s Hummingbird Altamira Oriole American Avocet American Bittern American Black Duck American Coot American Crow American Dipper American Golden-Plover American Goldfinch American Kestrel American Oystercatcher American Pipit American Redstart American Robin American Three-toed Woodpecker American Tree Sparrows American White Pelican American Wigeon American Woodcock Anhinga Anna’s Hummingbird Arctic Tern Arizona Woodpecker Ash-Throated Flycatcher Atlantic Puffin Audubon’s Oriole Bachman’s Sparrow Baird’s Sandpiper Baird’s Sparrow Bald Eagle Baltimore Oriole Band-tailed Pigeon Bank Swallow Barn Owl Barn Swallow Barred Owl Barrow’s Goldeneye Bay-breasted Warbler Bell’s Vireo Belted Kingfisher Bendire’s Thrasher Bewick’s Wren Black Guillemot Black Oystercatcher Black Phoebe Black Rail Black Rosy-Finch Black Scoter Black Skimmer Black Swift Black Tern Black Turnstone Black Vulture Black-and-white Warbler Black-backed Woodpecker Black-bellied Plover Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Black-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Magpie Black-capped Chickadee Black-capped Vireo Black-chinned Hummingbird Black-chinned Sparrow Black-crested Titmouse Black-crowned Night-Heron Black-footed Albatross Black-headed Grosbeak Black-legged Kittiwake Black-necked Stilt Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Black-throated Sparrow Blackburnian Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Blue Grosbeak Blue Jay Blue-footed Booby Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Blue-headed Vireo Blue-throated Hummingbird Blue-winged Teal Blue-winged Warbler Boat-tailed Grackle Bobolink Bohemian Waxwing Bonaparte’s Gull Boreal Chickadee Boreal Owl Botteri’s Sparrow Brandt’s Cormorant Brant Brewer’s Blackbird Brewer’s Sparrow Bridled Titmouse Broad-billed Hummingbird Broad-tailed Hummingbird Broad-winged Hawk Bronzed Cowbird Brown Booby Brown Creeper Brown Pelican Brown Thrasher Brown-capped Rosy-Finch Brown-headed Cowbird Brown-headed Nuthatch Buff-bellied Hummingbird Buff-breasted Flycatcher Buff-breasted Sandpiper Bufflehead Bullock’s Oriole Burrowing Owl Bushtit Cackling Goose Cactus Wren California Condor California Gull California Quail California Thrasher California Towhee Calliope Hummingbird Canada Goose Canada Jay (Previously Gray Jay) Canada Warbler Canvasback Canyon Towhee Canyon Wren Cape May Warbler Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Caspian Tern Cassin’s Auklet Cassin’s Finch Cassin’s Kingbird Cassin’s Sparrow Cassin’s Vireo Cattle Egret Cave Swallow Cedar Waxwing Cerulean Warbler Chestnut-backed Chickadee Chestnut-collared Longspur Chestnut-sided Warbler Chihuahuan Raven Chimney Swift Chipping Sparrow Chuck-will’s-widow Chukar Cinnamon Teal Clapper Rail Clark’s Grebe Clark’s Nutcracker Clay-colored Sparrow Cliff Swallow Colima Warbler Common Eider Common Gallinule Common Goldeneye Common Grackle Common Ground-Dove Common Loon Common Merganser Common Murre Common Nighthawk Common Pauraque 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

11 Types of Purple Birds

Purple Birds

There are yellow birds, red birds, and even blue birds but what about purple birds? Yes, believe it or not, there are a number of purple birds, or bird species with at least some purple in their plumage.

Some of these beautiful purple birds are common and easily seen. For others, we may need to visit Africa or South America.

No matter where we see purple in birds, males often have it to attract females. In this article, we have included the most commonly seen birds with purple in their plumage. Learn about these lovely bird species below.

 

#11 Purple-Throated Carib

The Purple-Throated Carib is a large hummingbird with a long, curved bill and a lovely purple throat.

The top of the head, back, and underparts are velvet black, and the long wings are golden-green. The rump and tail are a beautiful jade green.

This flashy hummingbird is easily recognized by these field marks as well as its limited range. It only lives in tropical forest and other tropical habitats on the islands of the Lesser Antilles.

 

#10 Purple Honeycreeper

The Purple Honeycreeper is a tiny bird with bright yellow legs, short tail, and a long, sharp, curved bill. The male can be recognized by its purple-blue plumage highlighted by jet-black wings, tail, and black mask around their eyes.

The female is green above, has orange on the face and throat, a small turquoise “moustache”, and heavy, turquoise-green streaks on the underparts.

This beautiful little tanager frequents the canopy of rainforest in parts of eastern Panama, parts of northern South America, and throughout the Amazon. It also occurs in Trinidad and Tobago.

 

#9 American Purple Gallinule

Purple Gallinule

The American Purple Gallinule is a chicken-sized bird with a stout, bright red bill, and long yellow legs.

The adult is easily recognized by its turquoise front, and beautiful, blue-purple head, neck, and underparts. The rest of the upperparts are glossy, bronze-green, and the wings have black flight feathers. There is also a patch of white under the short tail. Juveniles are shaped like the adult but are pale brown with some white on the underparts.

The American Purple Gallinule lives in freshwater marsh habitats in the southeastern USA, Mexico, the Caribbean, and much of Central and tropical South America.

 

#8 Purple-breasted Cotinga

Purple-breasted Cotinga

© Antonio Pessoa via peruaves.org

The male Purple-breasted Cotinga can be recognized by its beautiful shining blue plumage with deep iridescent purple from the throat to the lower belly.

The blue and purple are offset by long, black tail, black around the eye, and some other black spots. The female has pale scaling on dark gray upperparts and some scaling on a buff belly and under tail. Both sexes can be recognized by these field marks and also have large, dark eyes.

The Purple-breasted Cotinga lives in the canopy of the Amazonian rainforest, mostly in northern Brazil, the Guianas, and adjacent Venezuela and Colombia.

 

#7 Purple-backed Thornbill

The Purple-backed Thornbill is a slender little hummingbird with a very short and straight black bill, and a small white spot behind the eye.

The male also has purple upperparts, a rather long, black, forked tail, a golden-green throat, and some green spotting on the underparts.

Female Purple-backed Thornbill lacks purple and is green above, has green spotting on white underparts, and a maroon tail with black and white on the tips of the tail feathers. The Purple-backed Thornbill can be recognized by these field marks as well as its short bill.

It lives at the edge of montane forest and shrubbery in the Andean Mountains from Venezuela to Boliva.

 

#6 Purple Starling

The Purple Starling is a fairly large, jay-sized bird with big, yellow-orange eyes on a shining purple face.

The rest of the head and underparts are glossy, purplish-blue, and the back and long wings are a glossy, bronze-green with some small black dots for wing bars.

Both sexes look the same, have large, black bills, and can be recognized by their large size, short tail, purple throat, pale eyes, and lack of a distinct dark patch behind the ear.

This beautiful bird lives in savanna and edge habitats in Africa from Senegal to Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda.

 

#5 Violet Sabrewing

The Violet Sabrewing is a big, stunning hummingbird with a long, curved bill.

The male has iridescent blue-purple plumage with green on the lower back and in the shoulder of the dark wing. Meanwhile, the female is green above and gray below. Both sexes can be recognized by their curved bill, large size, and big white spots in the tail.

The Violet Sabrewing lives in montane forest and other tropical habitats in southern Mexico, and Central America to western Panama. This species also visit feeders.

 

#4 Violet-Backed Starling

The Violet-backed Starling is a fairly small starling species with long wings, a forked tail, and a medium-length bill.

The male is easily recognized by his stunning amethyst-colored upperparts, head, and breast, and snow-white underparts. The female is radically different and has dark streaks on reddish-buff upperparts, dark streaks on a buff throat, and white underparts.

The Violet-backed Starling is found in open woodlands, forest edges, and riparian forests in a large area of sub-Saharan Africa, and in parts of the western Arabian Peninsula.

 

#3 Varied Bunting

Varied Bunting

The Varied Bunting is a small, sparrow-sized bird with a finch-like bill. The male is easily recognized by his beautiful purple plumage with blue in the wing, tail, rump, and on the head.

He also has black near the eye and below the bill, and red behind the eye and on the back of the head. The female Varied Bunting is uniform pale gray-brown, paler on the belly. They lack wing bars shown by other female buntings.

The Varied Bunting mostly lives in Mexico but also occurs in thorny, scrubby habitats near in southern Arizona and Texas.

 

#2 Costa’s Hummingbird

costas-hummingbird

The Costa’s Hummingbird is a tiny bird with a fairly long, straight bill and short tail. The male can be recognized by his iridescent purple crown and elongated throat patch (known as a “gorget”), the female by her rather straight bill, white underparts, and dry, ticking call notes.

Both sexes have green upperparts, some dull green on the underparts, and a bit of white behind the eye.

The Costa’s Hummingbird is a common hummingbird species of gardens and flowering vegetation in desert and other arid habitats in southern California, Arizona, and northwestern Mexico.

 

#1 Purple Martin

Purple Martin

Purple Martin is a big, hefty swallow species with a forked tail. The male is easily recognized by its dark purple plumage, whereas the female can be identified by her size, forked tail, and pale collar with grayish plumage above, and pale belly with gray markings on the breast and flanks.

The Purple Martin is a very social species and both sexes often occur together in flocks, sometimes, very large flocks during migration.

This friendly swallow breeds in parks, open woodlands, and places with martin boxes in southern Canada, the eastern USA, the Rocky Mountains, and along the Pacific coast. It mostly winters in the Amazon.

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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