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19 Gorgeous Pink Birds Around the World (Pictures & Facts)

19 Gorgeous Pink Birds Around the World (Pictures & Facts)

Some of the world’s most beautiful and brightly colored animals are found among birds. From China’s golden pheasant to Australia’s Gouldian goldfinch, the world of birds is deceptively exciting.

Among the most beautiful are the delicate, blush pinks and fiery, scarlet reds of the birds.

In this list, we will talk about 19 of the world’s most stunning pink birds, along with some exciting information about them.

List of Pink Birds Around the World

Despite their aesthetic similarities, the reasons for their stunning pink coloration are varied. One reason, perhaps the most common amongst bird species, is courtship.

A bird’s bright colors signify its health and masculinity and make it rather hard to ignore, thus making it more attractive to a potential mate.

Aesthetic courtship displays usually result in high levels of sexual dimorphism in any given species. This means that males and females look different from one another, with males typically being the more vibrantly colored.

Another reason for bright coloration can be due to diet. The phrase “you are what you eat” is not untrue if your diet consists of highly pigmented food and your digestive system has not evolved to remove those pigments.

American Flamingos

american flamingo standing on one leg

Scientific Name: Phoenicopterus ruber
Feather Color: Bright pink, reddish-orange
Weight: 4 – 8 lb (2 – 3.6 kg)
Wingspan: 60 inches (152cm)

The American flamingo has bright pink plumage all over its body. Its flight feathers are black, giving its wings black tips when in flight.

The pink bird is one of the most brightly colored in the flamingo family. Being a wading bird, it spends much of its time in or near water.

This webbed feet animal is characterized by lengthy and slender legs and long s-shaped necks.

American flamingos have a large, down-curved bill, used to sift through mud and silt to find their food. Their diet mainly consists of shrimp, mollusks, algae, and seeds.

The iconic pink coloration comes from the carotenoid pigments found in some of their food, like shrimp. These pink/orange pigments get broken down in the flamingo’s liver and find their way into its skin, feathers, and even the yolks of its eggs.

However, chicks are born gray with a straight beak, which changes as they age.

American flamingos are found throughout the Caribbean and Central America and from the northern coasts of South America up to Florida.

Mitchell’s Cockatoos

mitchell’s cockatoo standing on a low tree

Scientific Name: Lophochroa leadbeateri
Feather Color: Pink, yellow-orange, white
Weight: 12 – 14 oz (350 – 400g)
Wingspan: 31 inches (80cm)

Named after one of the first explorers of inland Australia, Major Mitchell, Mitchell’s Cockatoo is a beautiful member of the parrot family.

Mitchell’s cockatoos have delicate, petal pink plumage that fades to white towards their wings. They have a crest of feathers along the top of their heads, which flashes bright orange, scarlet and yellow when raised.

Mitchell’s cockatoos are herbivorous bird species, feeding on seeds, grasses, and fruits, though they occasionally eat insect larvae too. Females have distinctive red eyes, whereas males’ eyes are black.

These pinkish parrots are found throughout South Australia, mainly in arid or semi-arid regions. They live in wooded areas; however, unlike most other tree-dwelling birds, they do not nest in trees.

Instead, they make their nests beneath the trees out of rotting wood (it doesn’t seem like the best survival strategy, but they probably know what they’re doing).

Hoopoes

small hoopoe feeding on the ground

Scientific Name: Upupidae
Feather Color: Pinkish-brown, black and white
Weight: 1.6 – 3 oz (47 – 87g)
Wingspan: 16.5 – 18 inches (42 – 46cm)

The hoopoe is a widely distributed bird found throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. This is because they have minimal environmental requirements in order to survive.

These include ground that is not too densely forested, on which to forage, and a vertical surface with ledges or holes, such as a cliff, in which to nest.

European hoopoes typically migrate to Asia during colder months, whereas African hoopoes stay put all year round.

Hoopoes are striking birds with brown-pinkish feathers and black and white striped wings. They have a black-tipped crest on their heads, which they raise when excited.

Hoopoes feed on anything from seeds and berries to insects to tiny frogs and lizards. Their long, thin, curved bills enabled them to probe the ground or piles of leaves and dig their prey out of the earth.

They kill large prey by beating it against the ground, simultaneously removing wings and other indigestible body parts. (Nasty!)

Read Also: List of Black Birds With Blue Heads

Pink Robins

pink robin on a tree log
Credit: Francesco Veronesi, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons (edited)

Scientific Name: Petroica rodinogaster
Feather Color: Pink, brown, grayish-black
Weight: 0.3 oz (10g)
Wingspan: 4 inches (10cm)

The aptly named pink robin is, indeed, a pink bird. Its chest and belly are bright fuchsias, which contrasts sharply with the black plumage of the rest of its body and the small, white dot on its forehead.

Female pink robins are much lighter in color than males. Their bodies are brown and cream, with a bright pink or orange patch on their chests and a beige dot on their forehead.

As with many bird species, the reason for this difference in coloration is due to courtship displays. Pink robins are among the many species of birds whose males attract their mates, in part, with their brightly colored plumage.

They are tiny, round birds endemic to south-eastern Australia. Usually, they live in forests, preferring eucalyptus trees, and feed on insects and spiders.

Pink robins build their nests from bark, moss, lichen, and spider webs and line them with feathers, fur, and ferns.

These shy little birds are becoming increasingly difficult to see in the wild, as habitat destruction has caused a decrease in their numbers, and led to them being listed as vulnerable in New South Wales.

Pine Grosbeaks

pine grosbeak on a tree branch

Scientific Name: Pinicola
Feather Color: Pink, brown, black, gray
Weight: 2 oz (56g)
Wingspan: 13 inches (33cm)

Pine grosbeaks, like many birds, display sexual dimorphism in that males and females look different (besides obvious biological differences).

Males possess a beautiful gray and pink colored plumage, with black and white banded wings and a black eye mask. Females, in contrast, are brownish-orange and gray, with similar wings to the males.

Pine grosbeaks are among the largest of the finch family and, like other finches, possess a thick, short beak, which they use to crack open seeds.

In general, pine grosbeaks are found across the world, in boreal (northern) Eurasia and North America. They nest in evergreen trees, usually building their homes between five and 15 feet above the ground.

These finches primarily feed on vegetable matter. In fact, 99% of their diet is made of seeds and fruits. On rare occasions, pink grosbeaks may eat insects.

Pink-Headed Fruit Doves

pink-headed fruit dove on a rock

Scientific Name: Ptilinopus porphyreus
Feather Color: Pink-purple, green, white, gray
Weight: 5 oz (150g)
Wingspan: 15 inches (40cm)

Pink-headed fruit doves are found only in the mountain forests of Indonesia. Despite their conspicuous coloring, these shy birds are difficult to observe in the wild.

Male pink-headed fruit doves have a purple/pink head and throat, with a black and white collar beneath. Their wings are green and yellow, and their bellies are gray. They have orange eyes, green bills, and pink feet.

Females look similar to males, only less vibrant.

When seen from above, the green upper parts of these doves camouflage them against the leaves of the trees in which they live. When seen from below, their gray underparts help them blend in with the dappled light filtering through the trees.

Pink-headed fruit doves primarily eat a vegetarian diet, consisting of fruit, seeds, and berries.

Even though the forests in which they live are being destroyed, the pink-headed fruit dove is still not considered endangered…for now.

Roseate Spoonbills

big pink roseate spoonbill flying

Scientific Name: Platalea ajaja
Feather Color: Bright pink, pale pink, white
Weight: 2.6 – 4lb (1.2 – 1.8 kg)
Wingspan: 4 feet (120cm)

Speaking of bright pink birds, the roseate spoonbill is a must-mention. It is a wading bird named for its distinctly spoon-shaped bills.

Roseate spoonbills are tall, long-legged birds that spend most of their time in brackish water along the coasts of Central, South, and Southern North America.

As for their coloration, roseate spoonbills have white heads, long, white necks, pink bodies, and bright pink wings. Their legs are also pink, while their eyes are bright red.

Like flamingos, their distinctive coloration comes from the pigments in the food they eat. The crustaceans they feed on eat algae that contain carotenoid pigments, giving the spoonbills their pink plumage.

Roseate spoonbills also eat frogs, newts, insects, and small fish. They use their long spoon-shaped bills to sift through and filter out any prey that may be hiding in it. Their long legs and bills allow them to do this without getting their feathers wet.

Also, like flamingos, they often sleep standing on one leg, with their head tucked under their wing.

Bourke’s Parakeets

bourke’s parakeet perched on a tree

Scientific Name: Neopsephotus bourkii
Feather Color: Pink, blue, dark brown
Weight: 1.5 oz (45g)
Wingspan: 12 inches (30cm)

The Bourke’s parakeet, also known as Bourke’s parrot, is a small member of the parrot family found throughout Australia. Bourke’s parakeets live in forests and scrubland and feed on a diet of seeds, berries, fruit, grasses, and some insects, for which they forage on the ground.

From above, Bourke’s parakeets do not look particularly interesting, with brown plumage covering their upper parts. However, underneath, they have pink bellies and blue rumps and underwings.

Females and males have similar coloration, though females are duller. Males also have blue foreheads, whereas females do not.

Because of their abundance in the wild and notoriously gentle, friendly temperaments, Bourke’s parakeets are popular pets.

In captivity, they exist in many color variations, such as yellow and pink, pink with blue, violet or black wing-tips, and “rainbow,” which exhibits a variety of colors.

Chilean Flamingos

chilean flamingo cleaning its feathers

Scientific Name: Phoenicopterus chilensis
Feather Color: Rosy-pink, white
Weight: 5.5 – 7.7 lb (2.5 – 3.5 kg)
Wingspan: 4 – 5 feet (1.2 – 1.5 m)

Like all flamingos, the Chilean flamingo’s coloration comes from the pigments in its diet. Its plumage is somewhat paler than that of the American flamingo, and it is the only flamingo to have gray legs with pink knees and feet.

Unsurprisingly, the Chilean flamingo lives in Chile and a few other South American countries.

Chilean flamingos are better suited to temperate climates than other members of the flamingo family. They may be found at altitudes of some 12,500ft (3,800m).

These pink-colored birds feed in the same way as other flamingo species.

They wade through the shallow waters of lakes or lagoons and churn the mud with their feet. Then, they move their heads from side to side in the water, using their bills to sift through the murky water for any small creatures they might eat.

Common Rosefinches

common rosefinch on a thin branch

Scientific Name: Carpodacus erythrinus
Feather Color: Red-pink, brown, creamy white
Weight: 0.7- 1oz (21 – 27g)
Wingspan: 8.6 – 10.2 inches (22 – 26cm)

The common rosefinch is a small, sparrow-like bird found throughout Europe and Asia.

Males are dark, mottled brown, with bright red heads and red-pinkish throats and bellies. On the other hand, females are yellowish-brown all over, often confused with sparrows.

Their eggs are brilliant blue with brown spots and are usually laid in clutches of around five.

Like other finches, rosefinches have short, thick beaks, which they use to crack open seeds. They also eat buds and small insects, and spiders.

Common rosefinches spend warmer months in Europe when they nest and breed. In the winter, they migrate east to find warmer weather in Asia.

Pink-Browed Rosefinches

pink-browed rosefinch during daytime

Scientific Name: Carpodacus rodochroa
Feather Color: Bright pink, brown
Weight: 0.7 – 0.9oz (20 – 26g)
Wingspan: 8.5 – 10 inches (21 – 25cm)

A close relative of the common rosefinch, the pink-browed rosefinch is similar in appearance and behavior. Their plumage is slightly more vibrant than their common cousins, covering more of their bodies and verging on purple in color.

Male pink-bowed rosefinches have a bright pink coloration with a pattern and brownish streaking on their wings and back.

Female pink-browed rosefinches, on the other hand, are darker than female common rosefinches, with a more conspicuous brown mask across the eyes.

Pink-browed rosefinches are found from Pakistan to China and as far south as southern India. They are usually residents of subtropical and tropical forests.

The diet of pink-browed rosefinches includes seeds, berries, grasses, and small herbs.

Southern Carmine Bee-Eaters

southern carmine bee-eater on a tree twig

Scientific Name: Merops nubicoides
Feather Color: Pink, brown, black, turquoise
Weight: 2.2 oz (62g)
Wingspan: 11 inches (30cm)

The southern carmine bee-eater is the largest of the African bee-eaters. This partially pinkish bird is found in central and southern Africa, from Gabon to the coasts of South Africa.

Southern carmine bee-eaters have striking brown and pink plumage, with turquoise crowns and lower bodies, black wingtips, and a black stripe across the eye. The central feathers of their tails are much longer than the others and stream out behind the birds as they fly.

As their name suggests, Southern carmine bee-eaters eat bees. Still, they also feed on locusts, dragonflies, wasps, butterflies, and other large, flying insects.

Southern carmine bee-eaters catch their prey on the wing, snapping them up in their large, black beaks. They kill large or potentially dangerous prey by landing on a tree and hitting or rubbing it repeatedly against the bark.

This kind of feeding behavior also serves to remove stings before consumption.

Southern carmine bee-eaters are gregarious birds living in colonies of up to 1,000 individuals.

Anna’s Hummingbirds

pink-headed anna’s hummingbird on a flower root

Scientific Name: Calypte anna
Feather Color: Red-pink, green, blue-gray
Weight: 0.1 oz (4g)
Wingspan: 4.7 inches (12cm)

Named after a 19th-century Italian duchess, Anna’s Hummingbird is a beautiful creature. Males have iridescent plumage, which changes color with light.

The heads of males are bright pink but can shine orange, red, or purple, depending on the light. Their bodies are bright green, with a blue sheen. Bellies are gray, although they, too, are iridescent.

The level of iridescence in a male’s plumage depends on the amount of protein in his diet, with more protein resulting in brighter coloration.

Female Anna’s hummingbirds, though duller in color than males are unusual in the hummingbird family in that they have pink on their throats. Most other female hummingbirds are entirely brown or gray in comparison.

Anna’s hummingbirds are found along the coasts of western North America. More often than not, females are the ones that pick nesting sites. The conditions are to be a horizontal branch placed higher than 6 feet from the ground and to be near the nectar source,

Anna’s hummingbirds are omnivores, and their diet consists of nectar and insects. Interestingly, hummingbirds are a type of animal that eats a lot of food, because they expend so much energy in flight.

Purple Finches

purple finch on a tree log

Scientific Name: Carpodacus
Feather Color: Pink-red, brown, creamy white
Weight: 0.9 oz (25g)
Wingspan: 10 inches (25cm)

Despite what their name suggests, purple finches are actually more of a raspberry red than purple. Their wings and backs are streaked with brown, and their bellies are creamy white.

Like other finches, females do not display the same bright coloration as males and are brown on their backs and creamy white with stark brown streaks on their undersides.

Purple finches are endemic to North America but migrate across the continent according to the time of year. Their preferred habitat is in coniferous forests.

During the winter, purple finches mainly feed on seeds and berries. While in summer, they often complement their diet with caterpillars, beetles, and other insects.

Scarlet Ibises

pink scarlet ibis in the woods

Scientific Name: Eudocimus ruber
Feather Color: Red-pink
Weight: 3 lb (1.5kg)
Wingspan: 21 inches (54cm)

Appropriately named scarlet ibises possess a brilliant, almost luminous fiery red and pinkish plumage covering their entire body, except for their long black wingtips and beaks. Even their legs and beaks are red/pink.

As with flamingos, the color of the scarlet ibis comes from its diet, which consists largely of red crustaceans. As such, chicks, which are born gray, become increasingly red as they age.

In addition to crustaceans, scarlet ibises eat frogs, fish, mollusks, and small snakes. They use their long, curved beaks to probe the mud in the marshes and wetlands (in which they live) to find their prey.

Like many other wading birds, scarlet ibises have long, thin legs and webbed feet.

These large big pink birds are found throughout the Caribbean, as well as parts of South America.

Corellas

white and pink corella on a thick tree branch

Scientific Name: Licmetis
Feather Color: Orange-pink, lemon-yellow
Weight: 1.1lb (525g)
Wingspan: 12 inches (30cm)

At first glance, the almost-entirely-white little corella doesn’t appear to fit on this list of pink birds.

However, little corellas have a small patch of pink on their face, between their eye and their beak, which is what earned them their Latin name, Cacatua sanguinea, or “blood-stained cockatoo.”

Little corellas are one of five subspecies of corella, all of which are endemic to Australia and primarily white in color. Corellas do not display sexual dimorphism, and males and females are very similar in appearance.

Like other parrot family members, corellas are highly intelligent, friendly birds and communicate with various vocalizations and displays.

Corellas mostly eat seeds but will eat fruit, roots, insect larvae, and crops, depending on what is available.

Moluccan Cockatoos

moluccan cockatoo in closeup photo

Scientific Name: Cacatua moluccensis
Feather Color: White, salmon-pink
Weight: 35 oz (992g)
Wingspan: 2 feet (60cm)

A relative of the corella, the Moluccan, or salmon-crested cockatoo is quite similar in appearance, with its curved beak and whitish plumage. The Moluccan cockatoo is a fair bit bigger than the corella and has a distinctly peach-pink glow to its feathers.

The bird also possesses a crest of feathers on top of its head, which, when raised, are bright salmon pink. It raises its crest to display heightened emotion, such as excitement, fear, or aggression.

Unusually for birds, female Moluccan cockatoos are larger than males but otherwise very similar in appearance.

Moluccan cockatoos live in eastern Indonesia, although, due to their popularity as pets, wild populations suspected of descending from escaped pets have been observed elsewhere. These white, pinkish parrots eat nuts, seeds, berries, and coconuts.

Despite their status as a threatened species, they have been considered pests due to their love of coconuts. They have been known to damage coconut plantations, tearing apart young coconuts with their powerful bills to reach the pulp and milk inside.

Greater Flamingos

greater flamingo walking through the water

Scientific Name: Phoenicopterus roseus
Feather Color: White, rosy-pink
Weight: 4.4 – 8.8 lb (2 – 4 kg)
Wingspan: 55 – 65 inches (140 – 165cm)

The most prominent members of the flamingo family, greater flamingos, are also the most widely distributed species. They can be encountered from southern Europe to Africa and in western and south Asia.

Greater flamingos are paler pink birds compared to other flamingo species, as most of their bodies are pinkish-white in color. Their wings are deeper salmon pink, with black flight feathers.

The legs of the greater flamingo are comparatively bright, a similar color to their wings and their eyes are yellow. Like other flamingos, greater flamingos have a large, curved bill, primarily pink with a black tip.

Also, the same as their relatives, greater flamingos are omnivorous filter-feeders. The bulk of their diet consists of algae, diatoms, insects, and small fish.

House Finches

house finch eating bread

Scientific Name: Haemorhous mexicanus
Feather Color: Red-pinkish, brown, cream
Weight: 0.7oz (20g)
Wingspan: 8 – 10inches (20 – 25cm)

The last member on our list of pink birds is the house finch. Found all over North America, this cute bird is a member of the finch family.

They possess a typically finch-like bill, reflective of their mostly seed-based diet. House finches also eat berries, fruits, and buds, but rarely insects.

Males of the species are brown on their backs, which fades into a bright pink on their heads and bellies. Females are brown and mottled cream.

The eggs of the house finch are particularly beautiful and similar to those of the purple finch. They are a bright, pastel blue with black and lavender dots.

House finches can be seen in dry forests, oak savannahs, grasslands, and chaparrals. In rural areas, you can spot them around barns and stables.

In Summary

Examples of pink birds (pink-colored birds) found worldwide include flamingos, pink robins, pink-bowed rosefinches, roseate spoonbills, purple finches, scarlet ibises, and southern carmine bee-eaters, along with many others.

Some of the birds from the list get their striking pink coloration thanks to their diet. For others, it is a natural gift that plays a significant role during the breeding season, particularly during courtships.

Thank you for reading; with this, we have completed our article. Hopefully, you will have no problem recognizing these amazing birds next time you see them!

For the very end, if you liked this post, here’s another popular read we recommend: Black Birds With Red Beaks.

Further Reading:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/for-some-species-you-really-are-what-you-eat-40747423/

https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/how-birds-make-colorful-feathers/

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