Last week, while driving my local backroads admiring the spring landscape, I caught a flash of brilliant turquoise that made me stomp on the brakes. About 30 yards out in a greening pasture, a male Lazuli Bunting lit on a stem, blue and gleaming as a semi-precious gemstone.
Azure blue eye candy! This male Lazuli Bunting stopped me dead in my tracks with his brilliant plumage and exuberant song.
The sight of that small blue songbird brought a moment of transcendence; the complete bliss, delight, and peace one feels when seeing a lake sparkling in the morning sun, or a field of blooming lupines, or the clear sky itself. Blue birds can have that effect — they’re both dazzling and restful to the eye and soul.
Blue birds are relatively rare in North America, with only about 2% of species being predominantly blue in color. So when we spot a bird decked out in shades of lapis lazuli, indigo, turquoise, sapphire, or azurite, we really SEE it.
The electric blue of an adult male Eastern Bluebird fairly shouts “LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!”
So it may come as a bit of a surprise that there is actually no such thing as a “blue” bird. Unlike many other bird colors, blue is not a pigment but is instead a color produced by the structure of feathers. The blue is created by the way light waves interact with the arrangement of keratin molecules in feathers. Feathers contain an intricate matrix of tiny air pockets and interlocking barbules that scatter and amplify blue light outward while absorbing other wavelengths. Different shapes and sizes of air pockets and keratin structures result in different shades of what our eyes perceive as the color blue. It’s all a trick of the light.
You can see for yourself how “structural color” works in different lighting conditions. In the shade or back-lit, a Blue Jay’s feather (or feather of your choice of blue-colored bird) will appear gray or brown because the gray-brown color of melanin pigments is visible. When light falls directly on the feather and is reflected to your eye, the feather will appear blue.
Blue Jay feathers under normal light conditions (left) and under back-lighting (right).
Another type of structural color in birds is iridescence, with perhaps the best known example being the gorget (throat feathers) of many hummingbird species. Iridescent colors are the result of the refraction of light caused by the protein structure of the feather barbules. The refraction splits the light into rich, component colors like a prism. As viewing angles change, refracted light becomes visible in a shimmering iridescent display. Although most “blue” birds have non-iridescent structural color in their feathers, a few blue species exhibit iridescent colors, including the Purple Gallinule, Tricolored Heron, and Tree Swallow.
Iridescent feathers change color with different viewing angles, an effect caused by the protein structure of the feather barbules.
I’ve gathered photos — some mine, some public domain — of many of our “blue” birds of North America. By no means is this an exhaustive list, but it does hit most of the bird families with blue members. Enjoy and take inspiration in their diverse expressions of blueness. After all, we here at Daily Kos have a real affinity to the color blue!
A breeding pair of Harlequin Ducks — the male has extravagant white, chestnut, and black markings on a background of rich slate blue.
Male Ruddy Ducks sport a sky-blue bill during breeding season. The blue is the result of structural color of the bill at the molecular level. Another “trick of the light” with fabulous effect!
The Great Blue Heron is more accurately a grayish-blue heron, but we won’t split feathers.
The Tricolored Heron is a beautiful mix of blue-gray, lavender, and white. During breeding season, the bill is bright blue with a black tip and the lores (area between the base of the bill and eye) are cobalt blue. While hormones trigger this color transition, the blue of the bill and lores is still structural color.
The head, back, and wings of this adult Peregrine Falcon are a velvety slate blue.
The Purple Gallinule’s amazing color palette includes a bluish-purplish head and body, greenish wings and back, a yellow-tipped red bill, baby-blue frontal shield, and bright yellow legs and feet. In good light their backs shine with green and turquoise iridescence.
An immature male Broad-billed Hummingbird showing glints of blue iridescence in his gorget.
The shaggy-crested Belted Kingfisher has slate blue plumage, but can look grayish in diffused light.
The Blue Jay is various shades of blue, black, and white above and white or light gray underneath.
The Steller’s Jay is very dark in overall appearance with a charcoal black head and a bright blue body and wings.
The Mexican Jay has blue wings, head, and tail with dingy gray underparts. The intensity of the blue varies across their range, with Arizona birds being paler blue.
The Green Jay is a tropical species whose range extends into the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The brilliant blue feathers on its head and face are like an exclamation point!
Adult male Tree Swallows are a glossy and iridescent deep blue-green above and white below with blackish flight feathers.
Barn Swallows are a vibrant sapphire blue above with rufous underparts. Males are more boldly colored than females.
The Bluethroat is a small thrush that breeds in tundra habitats of Alaska and Yukon Territory. Males have a blue throat with a reddish center; females have a faint blue and red band below a white throat.
Male Eastern Bluebirds are cobalt blue with a rusty-orange breast, while females are grayish above with bluish wings and tail and a subdued rusty breast.
Male Western Bluebirds are cobalt blue with a fully blue throat and chestnut shoulders.
Female Mountain Bluebirds are mostly gray-brown with tinges of azure blue in the wings and tail.
A male Black-throated Blue Warbler is aptly named with its midnight-blue back, black throat, and contrasting white belly. Females are grayish-olive, but may show a bluish wash on the wings and tail.
The stunning Cerulean Warbler breeds in large tracts of older deciduous eastern forests. The male is the color of the clear blue sky, while females are a dusky blue-green above with a yellowish wash below.
The Blue Grosbeak is a large, vibrantly-blue bunting with an enormous silver bill, chestnut wingbars, and a tiny black mask. Females are cinnamon-colored overall.
Indigo Bunting males are blue overall, with slightly richer blue on the head. Females are brownish with a white throat and a touch of blue on the wings, tail, or rump. These male Indigo Buntings were observed at Dry Tortugas National Park during spring migration.
Lazuli Bunting adult breeding males are an eye-popping turquoise-blue above with a rusty breast, white belly, and white shoulder patches. Females are warm grayish-brown above, with a blue tinge to the wings and tail, two buffy wingbars, and an unstreaked pale cinnamon or tan breast.
The dazzling plumage of the male Painted Bunting, a member of the Cardinal family, is unmistakable with its blue head, red underparts, and green back. The male’s bright colors come in during its second year of life. Females and immatures are a uniform, bright yellow-green overall, with a pale eye-ring.
Varied Buntings are a mostly Mexican species whose breeding range barely reaches across the border into Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Adult males are a stunning mix of rich plum, crimson, and violet-blue with black around the bill. Females and first-year males are mousy brown above, grayish buff below, lacking streaking or wingbars.
What is your favorite “blue” bird?
Which “blue” birds are found in your neck of the woods?
Is there a “blue” bird on your bucket list?
Grab a perch and share your birdy observations, photos, and musings!
