In this post, we list 21 birds with red heads for you to enjoy. Everybody has their own favorite colors when it comes to birding. But one of the favorite bird colors is red. The red color in birds sometimes is deep, rich, and sometimes combined with purples and pinks. Some of them are birds that we don’t get to see every day and many bird lovers will really appreciate these pictures of birds with red heads that we’ve chosen.
21 Birds with Red Heads
In our list below, you will find beautiful birds with red heads, from birds with red caps to birds with full redheads. Now let’s take a lot at some beautiful birds with red heads that you might see outside if you’re lucky enough!
1. Cassin’s Finch (Haemorhous cassinii)
Shades and Markings: First of the birds with red heads is the Cassin’s finch. It has a pinkish-brown back and wings. Their wings are short, with some white strikes highlighting the feathers. They also have a medium-length brown and pink tail with a white breast and lower body. They have rosy streaks on their breast, and the color becomes darker as they move up.
The bird has a pinkish-brown face with a white line above the beak. The mustache line turns down the beak and becomes a curly pink line around the cheek. There is also another white and pink line above the eyes. The male Cassin’s finch has a small bright-red crown. Sometimes there’s a thin white line around the eyes. The bird has a strong cone-shaped brown beak.
The female and young Cassin’s finch are less reddish. They are mostly brown and white, although the line patterns are similar to the male.
Size: A mature Cassin’s finch measures 6.4 inches in length and about 9.8 to 10.6 inches wide wingspans.
Food: Seeds (especially conifer), tree buds, and berries are Cassin’s Finch’s favorite food in the wild.
Facts about the Cassin’s Finch
Cassin’s finches are mostly found in the mountains of the west, also in British Columbia and Mexico. They are pretty little birds with a lot of shades and energy. These small birds are quite common, and they are also social. Cassin’s finches are mostly found in flocks and sometimes are found joining flocks of other species like crossbills, grosbeak, and other species of finch, especially when there’s a salt source nearby.
Another fact about the bird is that their shades likely come from the food they take, such as firethorn plants, which have orange berries containing carotenoids that can help the bird to produce beautiful pink and red shades.
2. House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)
Shades and Markings: The birds have a gray back and short wings with vertical black and white lines on the top. They also have an edge line o the wings and two distinctive white wing bars. House finches are medium-sized birds with white underbellies that have brown and black streaks. Their notched tails are gray with a white line on the edges. There is a rosy red hue on the feathers of their breast and on the top of their bellies.
The birds have rosy-hued faces with white flecks. They have gray masks peppered into the feathers of their backs and the top of their heads. House finches have strong and conical gray beaks. The female birds have gray and brown shades with a blurry streak on the chest and little marks on their faces.
Size: These birds measure about 5.1 to 5.5 inches in length and with 7.9 to 9.8 inches of wingspan wide.
Food: House finches mostly eat seeds from various weeds. However, they sometimes eat fruits and berries in the spring. Small insects are also part of their diet sometimes depending on the time and chance.
Facts about the House Finch
The birds are commonly found in Mexico and the western part of the U.S., and sometimes they are found in the eastern part of the U.S. and in the state of Hawaii as well. The birds are highly adaptable, and they can do well wherever they go. And this makes house finches sometimes considered invasive.
House finches can live easily in the woods, grasslands, and deserts. They have a special distinctive songbird that is recognizable from a mile away! These birds are absolutely quite the characters, invasive or not.
3. Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Shades and Markings: Anna’s Hummingbird is a colorful bird with a green and blue back and lime and yellow strike on the outer edge. The bird has small wings with a greyish edge and a small lime, green, and yellow tail with a grey tip. It has a white rump and white lower body and breast with a mixture of green-yellow coloration.
The bird’s face is mostly brown with a thin white line around its eyes, and it has a small reddish-pink cap. The reddish-pink shade also appears behind its eyes. The male has the reddish-pink patches on its chin, while the female’s shade is mostly yellowish or lime green with black, white, and grey shades. The bird has a long, straight, needle-like bill.
Size: These small hummingbirds are about 3.9 inches long and about 4.7 inches wingspan when fully grown.
Food: Anna’s Hummingbirds’ diet includes eating small insects and nectar, and they also eat sugar water from a bird feeder.
Facts about the Anna’s Hummingbird
Anna’s Hummingbirds are mostly found in the Southwestern United States and Canada. The lovely little birds get their name from Anna Massena, an Italian Duchess. These birds only bred in Southern Canada at first, and they were common to be found in Baja in the north. Their territory then expanded to what it is now as the flowering trees were planted.
These birds also have a high body temperature with an average temperature of 107 F degrees!
Anna’s hummingbirds mostly move in flocks, and their flocks are sometimes described as a ‘glittering’, a ‘shimmer’. or a ‘bouquet’. What is your favorite word to describe a flock of beautiful hummingbirds when you see one?
4. Brazilian Tanager (Ramphocelus bresilius)
Shades and Markings: The Brazilian tanager has a beautiful coloration with a bright-red back and shoulders and black wings. The wings are medium-size, and they have a greyish color on the wing tips. The tail is long and notched with a grey or black color, and their breast and lower body are in a vibrant bright-red shade.
The Brazilian tanager has a bright-red head with a strong black beak. There is a white patch on the lower part of the beak.
Size: A Brazilian tanager is about 7.1 inches long from tip to tail with a 10 to 12 inches wide wingspan.
Food: Brazilian Tanagers’ food includes seeds, small insects, and fruits.
Facts about the Brazilian Tanager
The bird is mostly found in wetlands, forest edges, and shrublands of Brazil and Argentina. When the time comes for breeding, Brazilian tanagers are quite the lookers. The birds build their lovely nests from vines and local grasses. Brazilia teenagers lay up to 2 to 3 eggs at once.
Unfortunately, their nests are sometimes invaded by Cowbirds, who will lay their own eggs in the Brasilian teenager’s nest. The eggs hatch in the nest and are raised by the tanager unintentionally, and sometimes it annoys the tanager’s own chicks.
Why the tanagers don’t notice the invader’s chicks remains a question for us. But I guess life is not always easy for the tanager.
5. Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
The Acorn Woodpecker has a black back and medium-sized black wings with white patches at the outer edges and a medium-sized tail. The bird has a white rump, underbelly, and breast. There are black streaks on its underbelly and breast.
The bird’s face has a large black mask that reaches behind its head, several black masks in front of its beak, and a red hat. The red hat for female acorn woodpeckers is smaller. These birds have long, powerful beaks that look like a spike.
Size: The acorn woodpeckers range in length from 7.5 to 9.1 inches and wingspan from 13.8 to 16.9 inches.
Food: Half of these birds’ diets consist of acorns. Their food also includes fruits, small insects, seeds, and eggs from other birds’ nests.
Facts about the Acorn Woodpecker
Acorn woodpeckers are mostly found in the mountains of the western and southwestern United States, spending most of their time in oak and evergreen forests. The birds get their name from the very beneficial winter habits. They like to store acorns and use their strong beaks to drill holes in the trees to create “granaries.”
The birds squeeze the acorns in the tree holes so tightly that even squirrels can’t get them out. Some trees can have up to 50,000 acorn woodpeckers’ holes! These birds have clown-like coloration on their faces, but they are not joking around when they prepare food for winter. One of many popular birds with red heads.
6. Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja)
Shades and Markings: Crimson sunbirds have bright red on their upper backs with grey and olive on the lower parts. Their small wings are grey and olive, and so are their long tails, while their underbelly and breast are in the olive shade. The upper breast is red, and there is a black line dividing the upper and lower part of the breast.
The bird has a beautiful deep red face with a black half-mask that covers the eyes. They also have a visible thin black mustache line above the bill. The bills are long and slightly curved with a black spot on the top. The female birds have olive or gray shades with a red patch on the throat.
Size: Crimson Sunbird is a small-to-medium bird measuring from 3.9 to 5.9 inches long from tip to tail and with a wingspan of 4.5 to 6.7 inches wide.
Food: The bird’s main diet is nectar. They also eat small insects occasionally from time to time.
Facts about the Crimson Sunbird
The birds are found throughout Asia and India. The crimson sunbird is a little bird that loves delicious nectar. The birds have special features to get their favorite food. They have tubular tongues, and they can hover just like hummingbirds do to get the nectar.
Crimson sunbirds are the national bird of Singapore so you can find lots of them there. If you happen to travel to their habitats, and you hear birds singing that sound like ‘chewee-chewee’, there might be Crimson sunbirds near you!
7. Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
Shades and Markings: The birds have black backs, while their long wings are black and white on the underside. Their long tails, underbellies, and breasts are also black. There are some white colorations on their underbellies sometimes. They have black chests, and the black shades extend up into the front of their throats.
Pileated Woodpeckers’ faces are mostly white and with a black mask, a red line above the beaks, and a distinctive brilliant red triangular crest with a mohawk-like shape. These birds have long, straight black beaks that sometimes have a little bit of white shade on the lower part.
Size: Pileated woodpeckers are large-sized birds that measure from 15.8 to 19.3 inches in length and 26 to 29.5 inches of wingspans wide.
Food: Pileated Woodpeckers’ main food is ants, especially carpenter ants. But they also eat caterpillars, beetle larvae, termites, and even cockroaches. They also eat berries and nuts when these foods are available and also sugar water from bird feeders. So if you have a bird feeder in your backyard and live somewhere near their habitat, try putting berries and sugar water to invite them in.
Facts about the Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated woodpeckers are big and beautiful birds that are found in Canada, the Eastern United States, and the Pacific coast. These birds are hard to miss, and they sometimes dig rectangular holes to get some ants as their favorite food. Sometimes the holes are deep enough to break small trees.
The digging also attracts many other birds that feed on ants too. The house wrens and other species of woodpeckers often fly nearby while the pileated woodpecker digs the holes and waits until they leave so the other birds can get the remaining ants that they missed!
8. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Shades and Markings: The males of northern cardinals have bright-red backs with small grayish wings. The birds have long red tails, and their breasts, underbellies, and faces are almost completely red. Their faces have a black mask covering the eyes and down below the chin that makes it look like a large goatee. The birds have large bright red crests and strong conical-shaped orange beaks.
The females of northern cardinals have lovely brown feathers with red strikes on the tails, wings, and large brown crests.
Size: The birds are around 8.3 to 9.1 inches in length, and the wingspans are 9.8 to 12.2 inches wide.
Food: Northern Cardinals mostly eat sunflower seeds and fruits. They also eat weed seeds and various grains sometimes.
Facts about the Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinals are widespread in many places such as Bermuda, Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. They are also popular in the U.S. and are commonly found in 7 states, including Virginia and West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and North Carolina. They are also found in a few of the U.S. states, including in some areas in Hawaii. The birds get the vibrant red shades from their food that contains a large part of carotenoids. Northern cardinals are faithful birds: they will live with one mate for the rest of their lives.
9. Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)
Shades and Markings: The purple finches have red to brown backs and wings. The wings are short and have white lines on the edges, and so do the wing bars. They have medium-length tails with reddish-brown shades. The bird’s underbelly and breast are white, and they have a light rosy red strike on their bellies that become thicken as it reaches their breast.
The birds have pinkish-red faces with a lighter color line around their eyes. They also have mustache lines and throats of pinkish-red shades. The birds have strong conical beaks that are pinkish-gray in the shade. Females have coarser stripes, but no trace of the red color of the males is seen.
Size: Purple finches measure 4.7 to 6.3 inches long and with wingspans of 8.7 to 10.2 inches wide.
Food: Purple’s finches’ favorite food includes weed, elm, ash, and grass seeds. When the weather is warmer, the birds also like to eat bugs, buds, and berries.
Facts about the Purple Finch
These birds can be found across the United States except for the western part. They are also found in Canada and the Pacific Coast. The purple finch is a prolific bird. Their widespread population is about 6.4 million birds. They are also the state bird of New Hampshire.
Their beautiful colors sometimes give them disadvantages. Their bright colors can easily attract predators such as barn owls, American kestrels, and blue jays. While they leave their nests unguarded, their eggs are sometimes stolen by grackles or squirrels.
Fortunately, they can produce 3 to 6 eggs at one time. They are also very adaptable, so purple finches are far from being endangered.
10. Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator)
Shades and Markings: These birds have red backs with gray small dots or large patches. Their small gray wings have white color on the edges. They also have long, slightly notched grey tails. Their underbellies are also grey, and they have red breasts with grey edges.
Pine grosbeaks have red faces with gray masks. They also have conical stubby black or grey beaks. The females and young pine grosbeaks have the shade of gray with red, yellow, and orange details on the feathers.
Size: Pine Grosbeaks measure 7.9 to 9.8 inches in length, and the wingspans are about 13 inches wide.
Food: Pine grosbeak’s food mostly consists of conifer and weed seeds, maple buds, wild fruits, and berries. They also eat small insects sometimes when it’s warm out.
Facts about the Pine Grosbeak
Pine grosbeaks are birds from a finch family and are mostly found in the western of the United States and the coastal rainforest regions of Alaska, British Columbia, and Canada. They are from the same family as Eastern Grosbeaks, but other grosbeaks actually belong to the cardinal family.
Pine grosbeak’s diets are mostly vegetables, and it is hard for the chicks to digest them. So they feed the chicks with a mixture of insects and some part of digested vegetables so they can be easier to digest.
The birds also love to eat fruits. Pine grosbeak flocks are known to hang around fruit trees, and they will eat all of the fruit on the trees.
11. Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)
Shades and Markings: The Red Crossbill has a reddish-orange back and medium-sized gray wings. With the bright color, they are hard to miss. The bird also has a short light gray tail with the underside of white and gray, and gray shade on the rump. The underbelly and breast are also reddish-orange or brick red.
The bird’s face is also brick red with gray lines around the eyes. The line curves vertically to their ears. The bird has a strong, medium-length curved-shaped beak. The females and young birds have olive shade or sometimes soft brown.
Size: Red Crossbill measures about 5.5 to 7.5 inches, and the wingspan is about 10 to 11 inches wide.
Food: These birds love to eat seeds, especially pine cone seeds. Their beaks are well-designed for cracking the pine cone seeds and eating them. They also eat insects, including cone worms, ants, and sometimes spiders.
Facts about the Red Crossbill
Red Crossbills are the biggest finches to be found while birding. They can be found across North America, and also in Europe and Asia. The bird has a crossed bill that is useful to eat their favorite food: conifer seeds. Red Crossbills love conifer seeds so much that they like to build a nest and fill it with the seeds.
The young red crossbills have straight bills at the first moments of their lives. The beak then turns into a curved shape when they are 4 to 5 weeks old. The younglings eat conifer seeds as well, and their beak development is simply managed by nature.
12. Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus)
Shades and Markings: These birds have gray backs, small gray wings, and long gray tails. There are splashes of red on the wigs and red edging on the tails. Their underparts are also in the red shade with white tips. They also have gray underbelly and breasts with a heavy strike of red shade. They also have red color around the eyes, while their throats, beaks, and the top of the crests are mostly gray.
Their beaks are short but powerful. They have conical beaks with yellow color. The female’s color is grayer overall, with a few red shade elements.
Size: A mature pyrrhuloxia measures about 8.3 inches long and with about 12 inches of wingspan wide.
Food: Pyrrhuloxia’s main food is insects. They also eat caterpillars, grasshoppers, and beetles happily. The birds also like to eat mesquite and other seeds, and also some fruits. Another food that the birds love is cactus plants.
Facts about the Pyrrhuloxia
The bird is also known as the ‘desert cardinal’ and is mostly found across the American Southwest and in northern Mexico. They get the ‘desert cardinal’ name as their look resembles a yellow-billed cardinal that also has gray shades. So no wonder you think that this bird is familiar somehow.
Meanwhile, the name Pyrrhuloxia basically means ‘flame-colored and crooked’. The bird gets the name obviously from its bright red beautiful feathers and its powerful but crooked beak. Although the birds prefer desert habitats, they are common to be found near people’s houses when there’s a cold air comes out on the patio.
If you see this beautiful bird near your home, don’t forget to take a picture and share it!
13. Red-faced Warbler (Cardellina rubrifrons)
Shades and Markings: These birds have gray backs and small dark gray wings with white color on the edges. They also have long notched gray tails and a white and gray combination on the underbelly and breast. Red-Faced Warblers have three shades on their faces: gray, black, and red. The back of the head is gray, and back at the top of the head, down until below the cheek, and the rest of the face is bright red.
The birds also have medium-length straight sharp gray beaks. The females have lighter red color, while the younglings have a little bit of pink color on their faces.
Size: Red-faced Warblers are about 5.5.inches in length and with wingspans of around 8.3 inches in width when they are fully mature.
Food: When the food is short, the birds will eat seeds and small fruits. However, the birds prefer to eat small insects when they are available.
Facts about the Red-Faced Warbler
Red-faced Warblers are commonly found in Arizona, New Mexico, and also Mexico. They prefer to live in the mountains or canyons, especially around a stream. They are also can be found in forests and in people’s backyards.
An interesting fact about these beautiful birds is that they keep their red color almost all year long. This is because most species shed their feathers twice, whereas they only shed their feathers once a year. This is how these little boys and girls stay colorful all year round.
14. Red-Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
Shades and Markings: Many birders love the sight of red-bellied woodpeckers. The bird has a distinctive color combination of red, black, and white. But the most noticeable coloration is the zebra-striped back. The bird has long wings with black and white stripes and split black tails. The bird also has a white underbelly and breast with a beautiful red strike.
The red-bellied woodpecker’s face is white with red color under the eyes. The bright red color also sometimes appears on the throat. They have a special red cap that makes them noticeable even from a long distance. The bird has a long straight black beak.
Size: The red-bellied woodpecker’s overall length is about 9.4 inches, and the sport wingspans are between 13 and 16.5 inches wide.
Food: As an omnivorous, the red-bellied woodpecker eats almost anything. The bird likes to eat insects, nuts, fruits, and also sugar water, and tree sap from a bird feeder. So this bird is definitely able to eat many things that are around their habitat.
Facts about the Red-Bellied Woodpecker
The Red-Bellied Woodpecker is often spotted in Florida. The birds can be found in the Eastern the U.S. and Canada as well. The birds like to dine on backyard feeders, and it’s interesting to watch them have their snacks.
When they capture large prey, they will smash it against the tree so it will be easier for them to consume it. They also have long and sticky tongues to get a tree sap when they feel like they want it. Many people are amazed by how efficient these birds are at consuming their preys.
Unfortunately, their beautiful bright colors make them noticeable to predators. The birds are mostly preyed on by cats or hawks. However, when a predator approaches, the birds prefer to fight than hide from it. And this strategy has proven to work for them.
15. Red-Breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber)
Shades and Markings: The Red-Breasted Sapsuckers have black backs with white spots and black wings also with white spots or large white patches on the outer edges. Their tails are long and black, with a combination of white and black on the lower body parts. They have white underbelly and breasts with heavy black stripes. They have a large red V shape on the breast that comes down from the throat.
On the facial side, the bird has a deep red shade with black marks that sometimes appear on the cheeks. There is a thin white line around the eye if you look at this bird very closely. The bird has a long straight black beak.
Size: The Red-Breasted Sapsuckers measure 7.9 to 8.7 inches in length, and the wingspans are around 14.6 to 16 inches in width.
Food: These birds love to eat a lot of insects, especially ants. They also love tree saps, and sometimes they eat fruits too.
Facts about the Red-Breasted Sapsucker
These birds can be found in western North America and in the Pacific coast. Red-Breasted Sapsuckers prefer to live in deciduous forests, where they can do the sap-mining from large trees like aspens. They also like to build a nest on a large tree. They also like to visit maple trees in people’s backyards. So if you have a maple tree or two in your backyard, you might get lucky and have many visitors every day.
These birds can work well together with Hummingbirds. They make sap-wells that Hummingbirds can take advantage of. The hummingbirds will feed on sap-wells to fill their bellies, at least, until the weather is calm and warm outside.
16. Red-Headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
Shades and Markings: The red-headed woodpecker has a black back and long black wings, each with a large white patch and a small black tail with white color on the edges. The underbelly and chest of these woodpeckers are pure white, and the faces of these birds are bright crimson red.
The bird has a long straight black beak. The young birds have gray-brown heads that will turn red when they become mature.
Size: The full-grown red-headed woodpecker measures 7.5 to 9.1 inches long and the wingspan is about 16.5 inches wide.
Food: They are opportunistic birds that will eat almost anything. The Red-Headed Woodpeckers eat rodents, insects, corns, fruits, and berries. These birds even eat poison ivy fruits.
Facts about the Red-Headed Woodpecker
The red-headed woodpecker can be found in southern Canada and the eastern and central parts of the United States. These woodpeckers are actually very skilled flycatchers, but they prefer to eat seeds and other sweet food like fruits and nuts. Small insects are only about a third of their diet. Therefore, you will see them near plants most of the time.
They are also the only North American woodpecker species that not only hide but also cover their food. They store their long-lasting food, such as nuts, directly in the tree and then secure their food savings by putting broken pieces of wood and useful bark to cover the food.
17. Red-headed Finch (Amadina erythrocephala)
Shades and Markings: These birds have smooth gray backs with medium-length gray wings, each with two black and white stripes. They have long, gray tails, and the bellies and chests of these birds are striped in black and white with an amazing “zebra” pattern.
The shades on the birds’ faces are red, and they have small gray eyes and gray spots on the cheeks. These birds have a short, strong, conical gray beak. The females of Red-Headed finch are mainly gray and brown.
Size: Red-Headed Finch measures 6 to 7 inches in length, with wingspans of approximately 8 to 10 inches in width.
Food: These birds like to eat seeds, grains, plant buds, and small fruits. They also eat small insects, including worms and crickets.
Facts about the Red-Headed Finch
Although sightings in North America have been reported, the Red-Headed Finch is more likely to be found abroad, most commonly in Zimbabwe and parts of southern Africa. The Red-Headed Finch is a tough bird; they can live even in the Kalahari Desert but are often preyed on by hawks and even vultures!
Fortunately, the bird is very social. They know that there is power in numbers, so the Red-Headed Finches usually live in a large number of the flock. A communal nesting ground of the Red-Headed Finches can consist of up to 200 or 300 birds.
These birds know it’s good to have some friends!
18. Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)
Shades and Markings: Scarlet tanager is bright red in its entirety, except for its small black wings and small black tail. There may be yellow spots on the wings, but this is not always guaranteed, and this wild shade only appears in the male during the summer and spring months.
The females and the younglings have yellowish-olive color overall, and the males look a little bit like the females except in the breeding season. They will have the same olive colors but with some spots on their black wings.
Size: Scarlet tanager’s size is about 6.3 to 6.7 inches long and with a wingspan of about 9.8 to 11.4 inches in width.
Food: These birds mostly eat beetles, caterpillars, moths, and other small insects. Small fruits and berries are also on these birds’ diets sometimes.
Facts about the Scarlet Tanager
Scarlet tanager can be found in the eastern part of North America and the western part of South America. Although these birds are active during the day, they tend to hide in tall tree branches during foraging, and you should look for them up high for sighting.
Scarlet tanager happens to be monogamous and is also a favorite target for the infamous cowbird. But unlike many species, these birds know what’s going on and will attack and drive away from the sneaky cowbirds whenever possible.
But cowbirds are good at sneaking their eggs. Sometimes the scarlet tanager will not notice cowbird’s eggs when the eggs are hidden in the current clutch.
19. Scarlet Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus)
Shades and Markings: The Scarlet Flycatchers has a brownish-black back. The long wings and tail also have the same color. The bird’s lower belly and chest are bright orange or red, and they have a red shade on the face with a brownish-black mask that extends to the nape. The bird also has a short, pointed-tip brownish-black beak.
The females and the young birds have brownish-gray shades with pink color on their underbellies and chests.
Size: The Scarlet Flycatcher is about 4.8 to 5.4 inches in length and with a wingspan of about 9.4 to 9.8 inches in width.
Food: These birds eat a lot of flying insects, including flies, and they even eat bees occasionally. They also eat fish when there is a chance to grab them, but this rarely happens, and witnessing a scarlet flycatcher eating a fish is definitely a lucky sighting!.
Facts about the Scarlet Flycatcher
Scarlet flycatchers are fairly the little wanderers found in the Southwestern United States, Canada, and Latin America. They are very adaptable to food hunting and are suitable for both coastal lowlands and deserts. So, if you happen to be in one of their territories, keep an eye out for these colorful little guys and gals.
An interesting little fact about these birds, also known as “Vermilion Fly Catchers,” is that when they come mating, they tend to bring gifts. Butterflies are a popular gift when the male birds attract the attention of the females.
20. Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)
Shades and Markings: The Western Tanager is a collage of colors, with a black back on the top, a yellow on the bottom half, and medium-length black wings with a yellow wing bar on the top and a white on the bottom. The birds have a medium-length black tail and a yellow underside from the bottom to the chest.
This bird has a `flame` blend on the face, mostly yellow with blood-red spots. They also have short, sharp, conical beaks, which can be darkish grey to black in color. The females of Western Tanagers have more lime and yellow shades, with red color at the front of the face. The young western tanagers may have a bit of red shade on their head in the spring, but this red shade doesn’t appear in the fall.
Size: Western Tanagers measure about 6.3 to 7.5 inches in length from tip to tail and with wingspans of about 11.5 inches in width.
Food: These birds eat a lot of insects, such as wasps, grasshoppers, ants, and even termites. They also eat fruits and berries sometimes. Western Tanagers don’t really like to eat seeds, but they will eat seeds only when they need to.
Facts about the Western Tanager
Western tanagers are spectacular sights, and they can be found in Canada, North America, and Central America. With the yellow and red of the male’s feathers, these little birds are the color of the flames, and once you find one, you need to look at their wings. Although not many birds have multiple wing bar colors, the Western Tanager has yellow and white colors on their wing bars.
Just like other birds, the bright colors that the western tanagers have are from their food. However, their shades don’t come from carotenoids like what happens in many other red birds, but the shades come from a chemical called rhodoxantin.
However, we don’t know for sure the exact source of this red pigment chemical. We believe that the bird gets the red pigment from some insects in their food.
21. Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)
Shades and Markings: Summer tanager has won our award for the bird that is the easiest to describe in this article. The male is bright red in its entirety, with small wings and a perky, medium-length notched tail. During molting, males sometimes have yellow and red spots, females and younglings are greenish-yellow, and their heads are bright yellow.
The Summer tanager has a thick pale conical-shaped beak.
Size: The average size of a summer tanager is about 6.7 inches long from tip to tail and with a wingspan of 11 to 12 inches in width.
Food: Their favorite foods are fruits and insects. If you happen to see summer tanagers nearby, they will benefit you by eating bees and wasps too!
Facts about the Summer Tanager
Summer tanagers are found in the southern United States and far north of Iowa and spend a lot of time in northern Central and South America and Mexico. These beautiful birds have the honor of being the only completely bright red bird across North America, but their lovely colors can easily attract predators such as jays, hawks, owls, squirrels, and snakes.
If you happen to see a summer tanager catching bees or wasps, take a closer look at how it is done. These smart birds will rub the bee’s or wasp’s stinger on a sturdy object such as tree bark. The birds then remove the stinger, so they eat the quiet insect safely for a snack!
Conclusions on Birds With Red HEads
That’s all we have for today’s post; we hope you enjoy the list of birds with red heads as much as we do. As you can see, there are so many species of red-headed birds. So better plan ahead and see how many of these beautiful birds with red heads you can find this year. Make sure you have a camera or a cell phone in case you need to take a picture. Also, do you think birds work for the Bourgeoisie? Let mw know!
You will need to save their pictures because these beauties are beyond words. Happy birding!
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