2-syllable Birds that contain O

List of 2-syllable Birds that contain O

1

Booby

Sula nebouxii

A large, torpedo-shaped seabird that hunts by plunge-diving from heights of 30 metres — remarkable for its sky-blue or bright red feet used in elaborate courtship displays, and for colonial nesting on remote islands.

2

Condor

Gymnogyps californianus (California); Vultur gryphus (Andean)

Two massive vulture species — the California condor (rescued from near-extinction in 1987 with only 27 birds remaining) and the Andean condor (the world's largest flying bird by combined wingspan and weight).

3

Crossbill

Loxia curvirostra

A finch with a uniquely crossed bill — the upper and lower mandibles overlap like a pair of scissors, allowing it to prise open pine and spruce cones and extract the seeds inside with precision; crossbills can breed in the depths of winter when cones are ripe, sometimes nesting in snow.

4

Cuckoo

Cuculus canorus (common cuckoo)

A medium-sized bird famous for its distinctive call (the basis of cuckoo clocks) and brood parasitism — laying eggs in other species' nests to be raised by unwitting foster parents.

5

Falcon

Falco peregrinus (peregrine falcon)

A swift, sharp-winged raptor — including the peregrine, the fastest animal on Earth — with extraordinary diving speeds and a long history as a hunting partner in royal falconry traditions.

6

Goldcrest

Regulus regulus

Britain's smallest bird — the goldcrest weighs as little as a 10-pence coin, and at 4–7 g is the joint-smallest bird in Europe alongside the firecrest; a tiny olive-green bird with a bright stripe on the crown — yellow in females, orange-red in males, displayed when excited; common in coniferous woodland and one of the most abundant British birds despite suffering severe losses in cold winters.

7

Goldfinch

Carduelis carduelis

A brilliantly coloured small finch with a crimson face, black and white head, and gleaming yellow wingbars — a specialist seed-eater that uses its narrow bill to extract seeds from thistles and teasels; one of Britain's most beloved garden birds.

8

Heron

Ardea herodias (great blue heron)

A long-legged wading bird that stands motionless in shallow water, then strikes with neck-spear precision — the great blue heron a familiar sight at North American wetlands.

9

Hobby

Falco subbuteo

A dashing, long-winged falcon — sleek and swift, with the silhouette of a large swift, the hobby is one of Britain's most aerial predators, specialising in catching dragonflies and swallows in flight at speed; adults have slate-grey upperparts, heavily streaked underparts, and vivid rusty-red thighs and undertail; a summer visitor from Africa, arriving in late spring when dragonflies emerge.

10

Hoopoe

Upupa epops

A cinnamon-orange bird with a dramatic black-tipped crown that fans open into a bold crest — found across Africa, Europe, and Asia, the national bird of Israel, and known in many cultures as a messenger between the worlds.

11

Hornbill

Bucerotidae (family; 55 species)

A large tropical bird defined by its enormous brightly colored bill topped with a casque — a forest frugivore and icon of African and Asian biodiversity, and the subject of one of the most unusual nesting behaviors in the bird world.

12

Junco

Junco hyemalis

A small, ground-foraging sparrow nicknamed the "snowbird," common in winter across North America with regional color forms so different they were once classified as separate species.

13

Ostrich

Struthio camelus

The world's largest living bird — flightless, two-toed, capable of running at 70 km/h, laying the largest eggs of any bird, and producing meat increasingly farmed across the globe.

14

Parrot

Psittacus erithacus

A medium-sized grey parrot widely regarded as the most cognitively gifted bird species, capable of imitating human speech and demonstrating reasoning beyond simple mimicry.

15

Peacock

Pavo cristatus

A large pheasant native to South Asia whose male sports a vivid iridescent train and elaborate fan display, the textbook example of sexual selection in evolution.

16

Plover

Charadrius and Pluvialis spp.

A family of compact, fast-running shorebirds found on beaches, mudflats, and grasslands worldwide — famous for the killdeer's broken-wing distraction display that lures predators away from the nest.

17

Robin

Turdus migratorius

A large, orange-breasted thrush common across North American lawns and gardens, an early sign of spring and the most numerous land bird on the continent.

18

Roller

Coracias garrulus

A brilliant blue and chestnut European and African bird named for its spectacular rolling display flight — one of the most colourful birds of open Mediterranean and African habitats.

19

Sparrow

Passer domesticus (house sparrow); various Passerellidae species

A small, brown, ubiquitous songbird — the house sparrow following human settlements globally, the native New World sparrows often confused with it, all unfussy about food and habitat.

20

Spoonbill

Platalea leucorodia

A tall, all-white wading bird with a spatula-shaped bill that sweeps side to side through shallow water — one of Europe's most spectacular wetland birds, and a conservation success story after near-extinction in northwestern Europe.

21

Swallow

Hirundo rustica (barn swallow); Hirundinidae family

A graceful, fast-flying songbird that catches insects on the wing — the barn swallow nesting in human structures across the Northern Hemisphere, performing transcontinental migrations.

22

Toucan

Ramphastos toco

The largest toucan species, a Central and South American fruit-eater with a striking oversized orange bill that serves as a thermal radiator as well as a feeding tool.

23

Woodcock

Scolopax rusticola

The forest phantom of the twilight — the woodcock is almost never seen by day, relying on extraordinary cryptic plumage of dead-leaf brown, chestnut, and black bars to become invisible on the woodland floor; it emerges at dawn and dusk to probe soft ground for earthworms with its long, sensitive bill; males perform a distinctive display flight called roding over woodland in the breeding season.