Spotted a pink bird in your yard? This list compiles the variation of pink birds you may spot across Northern America.
Table of Contents
From flamingos to three different types of finches, there are many rosy birds to identify, and all of which parade a pleasant pop of colour.
Pink birds are truly remarkable creatures, often unique and eye-catching, making the sighting of one a wonderful experience.
Many pink-feathered creatures reside in North America in various climates and environments, some are also attracted to backyard bird feeders – which may be enticing to the eager bird watcher.
Want help identifying birds? Try National Geography’s Guide to North American Birds
Which Birds Have Pink Bellies?
Table of Contents
1. Roseate Spoonbill
Bruce Lagerquist, XC397346. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/397346.
Roseate Spoonbills are rosy water-birds, with long grey bills and blushed pink bodies.
You may identify these birds by their somewhat brighter pink shoulders and green, feathered heads. Their build resembles that of the Flamingo, albeit their colour variation that sets them apart.
These birds, collectively known as a ‘bowl’ of Spoonbills, typically fly with their grey-white necks outstretched and dipped below the body.
They feed by wading through fresh, shallow water, swinging their heads and bills back and forth. Being very much creatures of water, they forage in bays, swamps and wetlands for fish and shrimp, and nest in groups along the water’s edge in shrubs and in trees.
These pink birds may be found residing along the coast from Louisiana to the Pacific Coast of Mexico.
Often, they are spotted in Florida and in the West Indies, sometimes migrating farther inland during migration, too.
2. Black Rosy-Finch
Andrew Spencer, XC143904. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/143904.
This is the darkest Finch of the three types of Rosy-Finches in this list.
These birds are flushed in dark brown all over, with rosy pink highlights on the wings and tail, and a contrasting grey colour wrapped along the crown.
They typically forage in shrubs for seeds and insects, often at the edges of melting snow along roads and alpine snowfields. Sometimes they also visit yard feeders, albeit primarily during wintertime.
They thrive in winter, forming large flocks with other Rosy-Finches to work together to forage.
These birds breed in alpine areas at high elevations near rock formations and cliff-sides.
You may spot a Black Rosy-Finch amidst the Rocky Mountain regions of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, over to Utah, Colorado and Nevada, too.
Their dusty-rose highlights are vibrant against the fresh snow, making the sighting of one a remarkable experience.
In summer, it may prove difficult to spot them, as they head to higher elevation towards colder climates and persistent snowfields.
Want to attract finches to your yard? Take a look at our article!
3. Cassin’s Finch
Richard E. Webster, XC621695. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/621695.
The Cassin’s Finch is another remarkable rose-coloured Finch, known for its cherry-stained body and bright red crown.
They are small songbirds, with short tails and elongated wings.
They are remarkably attractive Finches, with distinctive brown streaking along their backs, braided amidst the rosy feathers along the breast and neck.
Females, however, are notably browner in colour.
They forage both on the ground and high up in the trees, devouring mainly in seeds and buds, as well as some insects.
Eager birdwatchers may spot them in small flocks amidst pine forests, although they occasionally join other finches at lowlands and seed feeders in the winter months.
They breed from southwestern Alberta across to western states such as California, New Mexico and Arizona, usually in mountains or at high elevations.
The Cassin’s Finch is a bird native to Canada and the Rocky Mountains belonging, with other ‘American Rosefinches’ to the genus ‘Haemorhous’.
Want to attract finches to your yard? Take a look at our article!
4. Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
Andrew Spencer, XC87646. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/87646.
Another Finch attributed to the Rosy-Finch category is the stunning Brown-capped Rosy-Finch.
These birds bare reddish-pink bellies and wings and are of medium build. They earn the name ‘Brown-capped’ from their brownish heads and breasts, you may notice too that their tails are particularly long and forked.
These birds, like other Finches, forage on the ground, eating seeds and occasionally insects too.
They often come to bird feeders, particularly during wintertime. Similar to their counterparts, these birds prefer to reside in high, alpine environments such as the Rocky Mountains.
In fact, the Rocky Mountain National Park supports a breeding population of almost 2000 Brown-capped Rosy-Finches.
Colorado and Northern New Mexico residents may be lucky enough to spot these birds during breeding seasons above timberlines.
Want to attract finches to your yard? Take a look at our article!
5. White-winged Crossbill
Doug Hynes, XC613110. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/613110.
Adult male Crossbills are primarily rose-pink in colour, albeit their exceptionally bold black wings and white wing-bars that draws our attention.
Females and young males, however, are yellow in colour. These birds have highly specialized, crossed bills and their wings are sharp and pointed.
White-winged Crossbills breed across Northern US states from Maine to Washington.
They are nomadic birds, and often travel further South into Oregon and North Carolina where there is enough available food.
Their diet is almost strictly spruce seeds found along forest lines and weedy fields, occasionally (albeit very rarely) they gravitate towards backyard bird feeders, too.
They can be found in flocks of other Finches year-round, working together to forage in areas where food is accessible at the time.
For this reason, their breeding season is primarily attributed to their diet – as they move as a flock to wherever the seasons allow for seed growth. In fact, White-winged Crossbills can eat up to 3,000 seeds a day.
6. American Flamingo
Esau Toaki Villarreal , XC516017. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/516017.
American Flamingos are unmistakable birds that are remarkably unique and attractive.
They are one of six species of Flamingo across the world and are washed in a magnificent bright pink pigment with black feathers dotted along the rear edges of their wings.
Apart from their distinctive colour, they are most recognised for their curiously bent bill that extends downwards like a coat hanger.
They are very tall birds, the average adult being 5 feet (1.5 meters), and they have a particularly slender body and very thin, long legs.
They are notoriously water-based creatures and use their elongated bills to gather food from the water – feeding on plankton, small fish and algae, among other aquatic creatures.
You may find that they usually are found in flocks in shallow lagoons and fly in straggling lines, similar to geese.
American Flamingos breed in the tropics of the Caribbean and the Galapagos, as well as the Bahamas and similar climates.
In more recent years, North American zoos and aviaries play host to these flamingos, and there aren’t many loose flamingos outside of such institutions.
Some may be spotted, however, in warmer climates such as Southern Florida and Texas.
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