10 Fascinating Blue Colored Birds In The US (+ Photos)

blue colored birds

Blue-colored birds are becoming increasingly popular among bird watchers and amateurs alike, along with purple and green ones.

Blue is not just a color on the spectrum of light that strikes our eyes, but it also stimulates certain sensations on our retina which then triggers reactions in our brain. 

Blue feathers have been known to send an instant calming sensation over humans because of this. 

Blue can also be seen as a sign of hope, or an omen.  

There are many rare blue-colored bird species scattered across North America. 

In this article, we’ve compiled 10 of our favorite blue-colored feathered friends. You might be able to spot one of these while you’re out on your next adventure. 

10 Types of Blue-Colored Birds Found In The United States

Lazuli Bunting

Lazuli Bunting

Lazuli Buntings are small songbirds that live in fields and meadows. They love to make their nests near coniferous trees, which provide camouflage for the eggs. These blue birds get their namesake from the beautiful blue coloring on their wings and head. 

They also have a little black mustache that goes across their face.

There are many Lazuli Buntings all over North America, and it is a pleasure to see so many of them during springtime. These birds are also known to eat insects that are harmful to plants, so they are really beneficial for farmers.


Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

The Great Blue Heron is a large, graceful bird with an iconic look. It has the coloration of water and sky: light gray wings contrasting against a dark backside as well as white throats that show when they fly overhead to create an otherworldly scene not often seen on land.

These herons stand at around 4 feet tall in average adult size and weigh around 5 pounds.

These blue birds can be found throughout the contiguous United States and Canada, as well as much of Central and South America and parts of Europe and Africa. They prefer quiet freshwater areas near open grasslands and marshes. 

Great Blues can be found in a variety of habitats, however they require access to open water for fishing. These beauties are sedentary, staying in one area year-round and usually nesting within 200 miles from where they were hatched. Great Blues are monogamous birds that choose a single mate to breed with each year. 


Blue Jay

Blue Jay

The Blue Jay is a common sight in many backyards and parks across North America. It can be distinguished from other birds by its bright blue feathers, white head with black highlights.

These birds are known for their intelligence and curious nature: They often harass other birds to the point that they may make it a pest in a neighborhood. They are also known to eat small animals, such as eggs from other birds’ nests, and have been known to break into homes. 

Blue Jays are very vocal, being able to mimic the calls of many other animals and people in addition to their own voice.

These gorgeous blue birds tend to live in flocks throughout the summer months and can be found across North America in temperate climates. They are also very territorial, and will aggressively defend their territory, even killing others that enter their land. 

Blue Jays are known to mate for life, and use a variety of plants in addition to animal carcasses as part of their mating rituals. 


Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting

The Indigo Bunting is a small, seed-eating songbird known for its beautiful blue plumage.  They are most active during the day, when they can be found in fields and hedges, looking for food. 

You can find them nesting in low tree branches or shrubs, where they lay three to five eggs at a time. Indigo Buntings will remain with their mate for life; however, both males and females will frequently engage in extra-pair copulations. 

These birds can be found throughout North and Central America, and the breeding grounds stretch from the Eastern United States all the way to Canada.  We find that they spend their winter in Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, and Central America. Indigo Buntings are popular among birders because they are easily spotted by both their coloration and distinctive song


Eastern Bluebird

Indigo Bunting

Eastern Bluebirds make their homes in open woodlands and meadows across Eastern North America. This bird has a brilliant blue upper body, with a grey and reddish-brown belly and chest.  

These adorable blue birds are about 5 ½ inches in length, with a wingspan of 9-11 inches. Bluebirds in general are known for finding vacant lots or abandoned bird houses that they remodel into their nests; however, Eastern Bluebirds will also use natural cavities, such as old squirrel holes and abandoned tree stumps.

These little fellas eat fruit and insects, but will sometimes supplement their diet with small rodents. They may be one of your best friends, as they naturally control harmful insect populations like beetles, moths, and Japanese Beetles that are agricultural pests.


Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallows are small birds with slender beaks and long tails. They commonly breed in North America, and migrate to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America during the winter. 

These birds are migratory and like to breed near water because their main source of food, aquatic insects and insect larvae, live in or near water.

Their nests can be found anywhere from man-made structures, such as bridges and buildings, to natural nesting cavities such as woodpecker holes or squirrel nests. This species of bird has a blue back, a white belly, and blue-gray wings. 

Tree Swallows have pointed wings that are shorter than their tails. 


Blue Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

The Blue Grosbeak is a medium-sized seed-eating songbird. It can be found all across the Southern United States and Northern Mexico. Like most members in the cardinal family, it has a distinctive over-sized head and a stout blue-gray bill. 

Blue Grosbeak males are an intense blue, with a yellow rump and white undertail coverts. The females lack the intense blue coloration; they look more like sparrows (hence their common name). These birds make their nests in tree cavities.

This species is very social, and its members have been documented roosting with other species as well as Tropical Kingbirds. Blue Grosbeaks generally feed on seeds, either directly or by holding them in the bill and hammering them. 


California scrub-jay

California scrub-jay

California scrub-jays are blue-gray, medium-sized birds that live in California and southern Oregon. They’re members of the Corvid family (ravens, crows, magpies), known for their intelligence. These birds may be found in California’s coastal scrublands. 

We find that they forage in pairs or groups of up to 12 individuals, and their diet includes acorns, insects, seeds, fruits, rodents, lizards and eggs.

California scrub-jays are highly social birds that will often congregate around a single food source. They are monogamous during breeding season but polygamous during nonbreeding seasons. 

You will find them  in nests built from twigs and leaves and they may be over a meter long and half a meter wide. California scrub-jays are known for their complex social behavior, including various vocalizations to make other California scrub-jays aware of an aerial predator.


Black-Throated Blue Warbler

Black-Throated Blue Warbler

The Black-Throated Blue Warbler is a small bird that can be found throughout North America. Its range includes the northern and central areas of Alaska and Canada, as well as most of the states in the United States and Mexico. These birds are mainly migratory, and spend the winter in areas of Mexico south to Panama.

Our pretty friends have blue coloring on their back, with a white underside. Their wings are black with two white bars, while the short tail is also black with white corners. The population is mostly limited to forested regions, especially those containing a lot of coniferous trees that protect them from predators, such as hawks and owls. 

Black-throated blue warblers are also able to survive in urban areas, where they can often be found in parks or backyards near houses.


Kingfisher 

Kingfisher 

The Kingfisher bird is a round blue and orange bird that has a large beak. They tend to sit by bodies of water such as rivers, creeks, and dams in order to find their prey (which includes fish, crayfish and periwinkles). 

These birds can often be seen bobbing their heads when they see a fish. The eyes are proportionally large, so that they are able to see clearly underwater, as they hunt primarily aquatic animals. 

Kingfishers can be found throughout the world and across all the United States, but tend to prefer living near water and in trees, such as on riverbanks. They tend to live in flocks that fly together over rivers and ponds, however they do not travel very far from where they were born. 

In Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this article highlighting some of our favorite blue-colored birds, and we’re excited to hear about your own sightings!

If you’ve taken pictures of birds that are blue in the wild, please share them with us! 

Who knows? You might be one lucky person who has captured an elusive bird species for all eternity…or at least until they decide to change colors again. 

Happy Birding!

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