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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

Top 10 Most Popular Red And Black Birds

Red and black birds are some of the more eye-catching species of the avian landscape. Although there are fewer bird species with red and black than some other color combinations, birds with this striking pattern occur in most parts of the world.

In North America, we have a few common species with red and black plumage. These include garden birds like the Northern Cardinal and open country species like the Red-winged Blackbird.

These and other birds have striking combinations of red and black for the same reasons we like to watch them. Such colors are meant to catch the eye of female birds and make an impression.

As with other birds, the brighter a male bird is, the more likely a female will choose him to be a mate.

See ten of these beautiful red and black birds from North America below. Most of these impressive species are common, and some are regular visitors to feeders and backyards!

 

#10 Red-headed Woodpecker

red-headed woodpecker

The Red-headed Woodpecker is a striking, eye-catching bird. This woodpecker has a beautiful red head, and a black back, wings, and tail. The rest of the underparts and the rump are bright, snowy white, and the long wings have a prominent white patch.

It also has a pointed, blue-gray bill with a dark tip, and a bit of black near the base of the bill. Young birds are somewhat similar to adults but are more grayish than black, and have brownish-gray heads.

This beautiful bird lives in semi-open oak woodlands and other open habitats in parts of southern Canada, and the central and eastern USA.

 

#9 Pyrrhuloxia

Pyrrhuloxia

Photograph © Greg Lavaty

The Pyrrhuloxia is a cardinal species with an upright, pointed crest, and a conical, stout yellowish bill. The male is gray with red on the face, throat, crest, and in the wings and tail.

It also has a thick red line that extends from the throat to the lower belly. The female is duller, grayish-brown, and only has bits of red in the crest, face, wings, and tail.

Also known as the “Desert Cardinal”, the Pyrrhuloxia lives in arid habitats in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.

 

#8 Lewis’s Woodpecker

Lewis's Woodpecker

© Mike’s Birds

The Lewis’s Woodpecker is a fairly large woodpecker with a dark, blackish-green head and a dark red face. Around the same size as a Blue Jay, this woodpecker has a long, black bill.

It also has a silver collar and breast, and silver highlights on pink underparts. There is some black on the lower belly and dark green iridescence on its blackish wings, back, and tail.

The Lewis’s Woodpecker lives in open habitats and semi-open woodlands in the western USA, and part of southern British Columbia. It uses its long wings to fly up from a perch and catch flying insects.

 

 

#7 Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

© Alan D. Wilson

The Pileated Woodpecker is a big, crow-sized, crested woodpecker. This large woodpecker is mostly black with a white throat, white on the face and side of the neck, and has patches of red on its head.

The male has red from the bill to the back of the crest, and a red mustache. The female only has red on the top of the head and crest. In flight, the Pileated Woodpecker also shows a large white patch in the wing.

Pileated Woodpeckers live in forests in Canada, much of the eastern USA, and in the Pacific Northwest.

 

#6 Tricolored Blackbird

Tricolored Blackbird

The male Tricolored Blackbird is a glossy black bird with a small, plush red patch in the wings. This red patch is bordered with white, in the shoulder of the wing, and is most obvious when the male is in flight or displaying.

Female Tricolored Blackbirds lack red and are blackish-gray with some pale mottling. Young male Tricolored Blackbirds are also dark blackish-gray but have some orange markings in the wings.

Flocks of this species nest in dense marshes and brushy habitats near water. Large flocks also forage in farmlands and other open habitats. This endangered species is nearly restricted to California, especially the Central Valley. Some also live in eastern Washington, Oregon, and Mexico.

 

#5 Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Photograph © Glenn Bartley.

The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a striking black and white bird with a bright red patch on its breast. This chunky bird also has a large, conical white beak and slightly forked tail. In flight, the rounded wings show obvious white patches and flashes of red on the underwing.

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are brown and white, sparrow-like birds with pale eyebrows. They lack the black and red of the male and have some brown streaks on white underparts.

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak breeds in woodlands in central and southern Canada, the northern USA west to Kansas, and in the Appalachians.

 

#4 Vermilion Flycatcher

vermillion flycatcher

The male Vermilion Flycatcher is a sparrow-sized, black and red flycatcher with a short, puffy crest. The male is black above with red on the head, has a narrow black mask, and is red below.

The female Vermilion Flycatcher looks completely different. She is gray above, has a pale eyebrow, and white and pink (or pale yellow) underparts with gray streaks.

This conspicuous bird sallies insects from perches next to ponds, streams, and rivers in arid habitats. It lives in Texas, the southeastern USA, Mexico, and in Central and South America.

 

#3 Elegant Trogon

Elegant Trogon

The male Elegant Trogon is iridescent golden-green above and mostly red below. It has a narrow red eyering and a black face and throat.

This species also has a white band separating a dark green and black breast from its red belly. The underside of its elongated, rectangular tail is white with some faint, black mottling.

The Elegant Trogon also has a stout yellow bill, and pale gray and black wings. The female Elegant Trogon is brown instead of green, has some white on the face, and has a pinkish belly.

This species lives in oak woodlands in southeastern Arizona, adjacent to New Mexico, Mexico, and Central America.

 

#2 Scarlet Tanager

Scarlet Tanager

The male Scarlet Tanager is a thrush-sized bird with eye-catching, bright red plumage. The scarlet hues make a stark contrast against the velvet black tail, wings, and eyes. Female Scarlet Tanagers don’t have any red at all. Instead, they are yellow-olive with dusky wings and tail.

The breeding male is unmistakable but, in fall, has olive instead of red plumage. Even then, this tanager can be recognized by its black wings and tail.

The female is often confused with the female Summer Tanager.  However, the female Summer is more uniform, yellowish, and has a larger, pale bill.

Scarlet Tanagers breed in deciduous and mixed woodlands. They live in southeastern Canada and much of the eastern USA. This species uses its long wings to migrate to South America.

 

#1 Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

One of the classic “Redbirds“, the Northern Cardinal is a crested, finch-like bird colored with red, orange, and black. The male is bright red with a jet-black face, and large, conical reddish beak. He has duller shades of red on the back, wings, and tail.

The female Northern Cardinal also has a crest and conical bill but is mostly brown and buff. However, she still brightens feeders with an orange beak and red highlights in the crest, wings, and tail.

This popular and beautiful bird lives in gardens, second growth, and brush. We find it from southern Ontario west to Kansas and Arizona, and south to Mexico.

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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