Birds that contain D

List of Birds That Contain D

1

Adelie Penguin

Pygoscelis adeliae

A medium-sized Antarctic penguin recognized by white eye-rings on a black face — one of the most-southerly breeding birds on Earth, completing 13,000 km annual migrations on sea ice.

2

Bearded Tit

Panurus biarmicus

A tiny, tawny gem of the reedbed — the male is unmistakable with a blue-grey head and long drooping black moustache stripes that give the species its name; not closely related to true tits, the bearded tit (or bearded reedling) is a specialist of large reedbeds, its life played out almost entirely among the reed stems; a sedentary species but capable of dramatic post-breeding dispersal.

3

Bluebird

Sialia sialis (Eastern); Sialia mexicana (Western); Sialia currucoides (Mountain)

A small bright-blue thrush native to North America — a beloved garden bird whose population was rescued from near-collapse in the mid-1900s through one of America's most successful citizen-science conservation campaigns.

4

Cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

A vivid red songbird of the eastern and central United States, the official bird of seven U.S. states, with a distinctive crest and a year-round musical presence.

5

Chickadee

Poecile atricapillus (Black-capped); Poecile carolinensis (Carolina)

A small, fearless North American songbird with distinctive black cap and bib — beloved feeder birds known for sophisticated alarm calls that encode information about predator size and danger level.

6

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).

7

Dipper

Cinclus cinclus

The only aquatic songbird — a compact brown-and-white bird that walks along the riverbed submerged, using its wings to swim against the current and find invertebrates in fast-flowing streams.

8

Dove

Columba livia (rock dove); also Streptopelia, Zenaida, others

A small to medium-sized bird of the pigeon family — peace symbol across cultures, the white morph used in religious imagery, and the common name shared with the genus including the rock pigeon of every city worldwide.

9

Duck

Anas platyrhynchos

The most widespread and recognizable duck species on Earth, ancestor of nearly all domestic duck breeds, and a study in iridescent green and chestnut sexual dimorphism.

10

Dunlin

Calidris alpina

Britain's most abundant small wader — a dumpy, short-legged sandpiper that winters in enormous flocks on estuaries and mudflats, performing breathtaking aerial "murmurations" that twist and turn as a single organism; in summer breeding plumage it has a distinctive black belly patch unique among similar species.

11

Fieldfare

Turdus pilaris

A large, handsome thrush that arrives in Britain from Scandinavia each autumn in clattering flocks to feast on hawthorn berries and windfall apples — with its distinctive chestnut back, grey rump, and spotted orange breast, it is one of Britain's most striking winter visitors.

12

Frigatebird

Fregata magnificens

A large, long-winged tropical seabird with a remarkable red throat pouch that males inflate like a balloon during courtship, and a well-earned reputation as an aerial pirate that terrorizes other seabirds into dropping their food.

13

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.

14

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.

15

Hummingbird

Archilochus colubris

The most common hummingbird in eastern North America, weighing less than a U.S. nickel, capable of hovering, flying backward, and migrating across the Gulf of Mexico nonstop.

16

Mockingbird

Mimus polyglottos (Northern); various other Mimus and Mimidae species

A medium-sized gray songbird famous for mimicking dozens of other species — capable of imitating 200+ songs and sounds across a lifetime, with the northern mockingbird as Harper Lee's literary symbol of innocence.

17

Partridge

Perdix perdix

A plump, ground-dwelling game bird of European farmland and hedgerows — the "pear tree" bird of the twelve days of Christmas, now in serious decline across much of its range due to agricultural intensification.

18

Pied Flycatcher

Ficedula hypoleuca

The black-and-white summer visitor of ancient oak woods — the male pied flycatcher is crisply black above and white below with a bold white forehead patch; the female is brown and white; they arrive from West Africa in late April to breed in old oak trees and nest boxes, making sallying flights to catch insects and raising a brood before departing in late summer.

19

Red Kite

Milvus milvus

Britain's most spectacular conservation success story — a large, elegant, fork-tailed raptor that was reduced to a tiny remnant population of a few dozen birds in Wales by the 1930s and has since been reintroduced across England and Scotland, now numbering thousands; the russet-red body, pale head, and deeply forked tail make it unmistakable in flight.

20

Redstart

Phoenicurus phoenicurus

A jewel of the oak woodland — the male common redstart has a fiery orange tail (constantly quivered), blue-grey upper parts, and a bold black face; a summer visitor to Britain from Africa, its liquid song is a key sound of ancient oak woods in Wales and the Lake District.

21

Roadrunner

Geococcyx californianus (greater roadrunner)

A long-legged ground cuckoo of southwestern North America that runs fast rather than flies — eats lizards, snakes (including rattlesnakes), and forms the basis for the Looney Tunes character chasing Wile E. Coyote.

22

Sandpiper

Scolopacidae (family)

A diverse family of small to medium shorebirds with long bills probing for invertebrates in mud and sand — many species undertake some of the longest non-stop bird migrations on Earth, sometimes 11,000+ km in a single flight.

23

Sunbird

Nectarinia famosa

Africa and Asia's answer to the hummingbird — small, fast, and brilliantly iridescent nectar feeders that perch rather than hover, with long curved bills designed for specific flower shapes.

24

Umbrellabird

Cephalopterus ornatus

A large black tropical bird of South American rainforests, distinguished by an umbrella-like crest of feathers above its head and a long, retractable, throat-feathered wattle that males inflate during courtship displays.

25

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.

26

Woodpecker

Dryocopus pileatus

A large, crow-sized woodpecker with a vivid red crest, the model for Woody Woodpecker; chisels rectangular holes deep into wood with a series of head-snapping impacts.

27

Xantus's Hummingbird

Basilinna xantusii

A small, range-restricted hummingbird of southern Baja California with a brilliant green back and rufous belly — endemic to the peninsula and one of the few "X" birds in field guides.