Our Favourite Bird Species Around the World
With sensational birds to be seen on all our tours, there are far too many to mention. So here are a few of our favourites!
Shoebill
The enormous shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) haunts papyrus marshes in East and Central Africa but is always scarce. We recommend Murchison Falls in Uganda and Bangweulu Swamp in Zambia for seeing it. This extraordinary bird, whose scientific name means the whale-headed king, has no close relatives and occupies a family of its own. It hunts alone, standing on floating vegetation in poorly-oxygenated water and lunging forwards with its great bill to catch fish and amphibians as they surface to gulp air.
Golden eagle
If one bird epitomises wilderness in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the magnificent golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Found in boreal forests, upland plateaux and mountains across Asia, Europe and North America, this spectacular bird can be seen in many of the sites we visit, including Mull, Andújar and Yellowstone, and it just creeps into Africa in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia.
Atlantic puffin
One of the most loved birds on earth, the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) nests right round North Atlantic coasts, including many offshore islands in the UK, where its waddling gait and multi-coloured bill make it a national treasure. Puffins can be heard crooning and seen bringing shining sand eels back to chicks in their burrows on our tours to Iceland and Mull in summer.
Green violetear
Of more than 350 dazzlingly diverse and beautiful hummingbirds, found almost everywhere across the Americas, the gorgeous green violetear (Colibri thalassinus) has one of the largest ranges. Its subspecies occur from the southern border of the United States, all through Central America and south through the humid Andes to Bolivia. It can be seen on our tours to Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, accompanied everywhere by a spectacular array of sunangels, sungems, sunbeams and other hummingbirds.
Scarlet ibis
Found along Atlantic coasts of South America, and in the Llanos along the border between Colombia and Venezuela, the adult scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber) is startling scarlet, with only black tips to its wings and a red bill which flushes black when breeding. Young birds are dull canvas brown, flushing red over several years. These gregarious birds take a range of small prey in saline and freshwater wetlands, but are best known for gathering in breathtaking roosts, as at Caroni Swamp in Trinidad.
Hyacinth macaw
Largest of the world’s parrots, the fabulous hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) uses its huge bill to crack palm nuts for the nutritious flesh inside. With a disjunct distribution across Brazil and into neighbouring Bolivia, this astonishing bird is best known from the Brazillian Pantanal, where its shocking blue plumage, broken only by golden facial skin, and its deafening calls are much loved. Since it inhabits forest islands around ranches and nests in tree holes, it is seen on all our tours here.
Arctic tern
Perhaps the world’s greatest migrant, the graceful arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) nests right around arctic coasts and winters as far south as Antarctica. These gorgeous birds are easily seen in spring and summer on our tours to Iceland, Greenland, Svalbard and Scotland. Nesting on the ground in sites frequented by otters, arctic foxes and even polar bears, arctic terns are aggressive around their colonies. Even keeping a respectful distance from their nests, it is easy to be pecked on the head!
Wilson's birds of paradise
Of around 40 birds of paradise found from Papua New Guinea west into Indonesia and east to Australia, one of the most extraordinary is Wilson’s (Cicinnurus respublica). This jewel-like bird, with a crimson back, yellow nape and sky-blue cap, laced with black like a stained-glass window, can be seen displaying on Waigeo on our cruise through Raja Ampat in Indonesia. Many other gorgeous birds of paradise, including King of Saxony and ribbon-tailed astrapia can be seen on our Birding in Paradise tour.
Find out more about our birdwatching holidays or browse our selection of birding trips. To start planning your next adventure, contact our team.
