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Top 25 Black And Blue Birds (Photos, Facts, And ID Info!)

If you’re looking for help to identify black and blue birds, this will be the best article you read today. 

In this post, you will find photos, identification info, bird songs, calls, and all the fun information you need. 

Examples of black and blue birds include the Steller’s jay, blue bunting, common grackle, blue-black grassquit, blue-black kingfisher, southern cassowary, shining honeycreeper, and many others. 

Here are the 25 most interesting ones.

Black And Blue Birds

Steller’s Jay

steller's jay
  • Scientific name: Cyanocitta stelleri
  • Lifespan: up to 16 years
  • Wingspan: 17.7-19 in
  • Color: Charcoal black and dark blue

Steller’s jays are one of the larger jay species that are native to western North America and the mountains of Central America. 

They are common in pine-oak and coniferous forests ranging from Alaska to Nicaragua. 

Steller’s jays have charcoal black heads and dark blue rest of the body (the brightest blue colors are on the wings); there are also lighter streaks on their foreheads.

These big blue birds are conspicuous and have very harsh “shack-sheck-sheck” calls. 

Source: National Park Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Similar to other jays, Steller’s jays are great at mimicking other birds including raptors like osprey, red-shouldered hawks, red-tailed hawks, etc. 

They are omnivores that feed on seeds, nuts, berries, fruit, invertebrates, small rodents, eggs, and even small snakes. 

Steller’s jays are also common around bird feeders, campgrounds, and picnic areas, looking for sunflower seeds, cracked corn, and their favorite, raw peanuts. 

These birds are monogamous and were named after the German naturalist who first recorded them, Georg Wilhelm Steller.


Vulturine Guineafowl

vulturine guineafowl
  • Scientific name: Acryllium vulturinum
  • Lifespan: 15 years
  • Wingspan: 28 in 
  • Color: Cobalt blue and black with some white

Vulturine guineafowls are the largest guineafowl species in the world. 

They can weigh as much as 3.5 pounds and measure over 2.3 ft in length.

These large birds with small naked heads, short wings, and round bodies are native to Eastern Africa, found in countries like Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. 

Both sexes look alike; males are slightly larger. 

Vulturine guineafowls have cobalt blue breasts while the rest of the body is black; they also have bare blue faces, black necks, and a fine spangling of white color. 

They are social birds that form flocks consisting of over 20 birds and can be identified by their loud “chink-chink” calls. 

Despite having wings, vulturine guineafowl will run instead of flying to escape from danger. 

They breed in dry and open habitats with scattered bushes and trees and lay 4-8 cream-colored eggs. 

They are named vulturine because their bald heads and necks resemble those of vultures. 

Vulturine guineafowls are also often called “royal guineafowl” because of their striking appearance. 

They are omnivores whose diet includes seeds, roots, tubers, grubs, rodents, small reptiles, insects, and even vegetation and fruits.

Read More: More examples of large blue birds around the world


Blue Dacnis

male and female blue dacnis
Source: 18610 Arthurdent, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
  • Scientific name: Dacnis cayana
  • Lifespan: up to 5 years
  • Wingspan: n/a
  • Color: Turquoise blue and black

Blue dacnis are small songbirds found around forests, gardens, and parks of Central and South America.

They are nicknamed “turquoise honeycreepers” due to the brilliant black and blue plumage of adult males; females are mainly green and blue.

Despite their nickname, they are tanagers and not honeycreepers. 

Male blue dacnis are turquoise blue with black throats, backs, and around their eyes. They also have black wings and tails that are edged in turquoise.

They are social birds that mainly feed on fruit and some insects they collect from foliage, flowers, or bromeliads. 

Identify blue dacnis by their repetitive lispy “tsit” high-pitched notes.

These small black and blue birds build their cup-shaped nests in trees and have a clutch of 2-3 whitish eggs. Females incubate the eggs while the males feed them. 


Red-winged Starling

red-winged starling
  • Scientific name: Onychognathus morio
  • Lifespan: n/a
  • Wingspan: n/a
  • Color: Glossy black, dark blue, and chestnut red

Red-winged starlings are large blue and black birds native to eastern Africa. 

They can be often found around forests, savannahs, grasslands, wetlands, farmlands, and plantations, but also in urban areas. 

Male red-winged starlings can be identified by their glossy black plumage with dark blue sheen and bright chestnut-red primary wing feathers. 

Females are ash-gray. 

Red-winged starlings can be also identified by several whistled calls with the most common being the contact “cher-leeeoo” one. 

Source: Anne Ndung’uCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

They are highly gregarious outside of the breeding season, but when the nesting season comes, they become very territorial and aggressive.

They are known to attack other birds, even domestic animals, and humans. 

Red-winged starlings will build their nests using grass, twigs, and mud and nest around cliffs. A female will lay 2-4 blue eggs that are spotted with red, twice per year. 

A great spotted cuckoo will often kick this starling’s eggs and lay its own for the starling to raise (brood parasitism). 

Red-winged starlings are omnivores and consume fruits, seeds, insects, mollusks, snails, spiders, and carrion.


Blue-and-black Tanager

blue-and-black tanager
Source: Francesco Veronesi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
  • Scientific name: Tangara vassorii
  • Lifespan: n/a
  • Wingspan: n/a
  • Color: Cobalt blue and black

Blue-and-black tanagers are small songbirds found in the Andean mountains of South America. 

Their habitats include montane evergreen forests, dwarf forests, and secondary forests of Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. 

They can be identified by their short black beaks, brown eyes, and gray legs and feet. 

Blue-and-black tanagers are cobalt blue with black wings, tails, and facial masks; females have slightly duller colors. 

They are vocal species with several calls, including high-pitched “tsits,” lower “swits,” and very rough “swit-its“. They have a song that consists of a series of high-pitched notes that sounds like “zieu-zie-zie-zizi” and is 2-3 seconds long. 

Source: Niels KrabbeCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Blue-and-black tanagers are commonly found in pairs.

They feed on arthropods, fruit, and nectar, and their diet makes them key for the growth of new forests as they disperse seeds of various plants. 

Their breeding season usually lasts from February to August and they will have a clutch of 2 pale blue eggs with cinnamon splotching. 


Splendid Fairywren

splendid fairywren
Source: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
  • Scientific name: Malurus splendens 
  • Lifespan: 5-6 years
  • Wingspan: 12-14 in 
  • Color: Bright blue and black

Splendid fairywrens are tiny blue birds commonly found in Australia, around dry and shrubby habitats.

They are a sexually dimorphic species and can be identified by the long blue tails they often hold cocked. 

Breeding male splendid fairywrens are almost completely bright blue with deeper rich blue wings, chests, and tails; their beaks, eye bands, and chest bands are black.

Non-breeding males are mostly brown with blue wings. Females resemble non-breeding males and have chestnut beaks and eye patches. 

These birds are very social and will form groups of 2-8 individuals that will defend their territory year-round. 

Splendid fairywrens are interesting for their reproductive behavior as these birds are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous.

This means that a male and a female might form a pair, but each of them will mate with other birds and even help in raising the young from such engagements. 

Splendid fairywrens are omnivores and feed on ants, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, bugs, some seeds, flowers, and fruit.

As part of the courtship ritual, males will often pluck pink or purple petals and show them to females.


Blue Mockingbird

blue mockingbird
Source: Martín Márquez, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
  • Scientific name: Melanotis caerulescens
  • Lifespan: up to 8 years in the wild
  • Wingspan: 13-15.5 in
  • Color: Dark blue and black

Blue mockingbirds are small birds endemic to Mexico but might occasionally visit southern parts of the USA.

They are only distantly related to the USA’s northern mockingbirds and are hard to be confused with other species in North America due to their appearance.

Blue mockingbirds have deep blue plumage and black facial masks. They also have reddish-brown eyes, long tails, slightly curved beaks, and black legs and feet. 

Identify them by their song that consists of a series of melodic phrases intermixed with occasional harsher notes.

They are common around subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forests, at altitudes ranging from sea level to up to 8,000 feet in the mountains. 

Blue mockingbirds will often hide out in thick vegetation, near the ground, and go higher when singing. 

These birds are omnivores that feed on insects, spiders, fruits, and berries.


Blue Bunting

blue bunting
Source: Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
  • Scientific name: Cyanocompsa parellina
  • Lifespan: 2-3 years
  • Wingspan: 8.5 in
  • Color: Black with several shades of blue

Blue buntings are small songbirds measuring 5.3 inches long and weighing as little as 0.35 ounces.

They are found in Mexico and northern parts of Central America, in dense thickets and woodland edges. Occasionally, some birds might visit southern Texas, mostly during winter.

Male blue buntings have various shades of blue on their plumage; the forehead and cheeks are sky blue, rumps are ultramarine, underparts are deep blue, and upperparts are a mix of black and blue.

Females are mostly dull brown. 

Identify blue buntings by their high-pitched warbling song that tapes off at the end. 

They will build small cup-shaped nests using grass and other plant material and lay 2 eggs that the females incubate.

Blue buntings are omnivores that feed on seeds and insects.


Bee Hummingbird

bee hummingbird
  • Scientific name: Mellisuga helenae 
  • Lifespan: up to 7 years in the wild
  • Wingspan: 1.3-1.5 in
  • Color: Blue, black, and white

Bee hummingbirds are the world’s smallest birds. 

Also known as zunzuncito or Helena hummingbirds, males measure just 2.2 inches long and weigh only 0.069 ounces on average; females are slightly larger.

Male bee hummingbirds are stunning and have turquoise blue upperparts, grayish-white underparts, and black wings and tail tips; females are turquoise above but dingy below. 

These miniature birds are only found in Cuba; there they lay their coffee-bean-sized eggs in nests the size of a quarter. 

Bee hummingbirds got the name from the sound their wings make as it resembles that of a bumblebee. 

While flying, they will beat their tiny wings around 80 times per second; during courtship rituals, that number increases up to 200 times per second! 

Bee hummingbirds are omnivores that feed on flower nectar and insects, often consuming up to half their body weight in food per day.


Cerulean Warbler

cerulean warbler
Source: DiaGraphic, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
  • Scientific name: Setophaga cerulea
  • Lifespan: 6 years
  • Wingspan: 7.9 in
  • Color: Sky blue, black, and white

Cerulean warblers are small songbirds that breed in eastern North American hardwood forests during summer. 

When the winter comes, they will migrate south to wintering grounds in Andean mountain forests, in countries ranging from Colombia south to Bolivia. 

They have one of the longest migrations of any small migratory bird and can travel almost 2,500 miles from breeding to nonbreeding grounds. 

These warblers might be difficult to spot since they forage, sing, nest, and roost high in the canopy of mature forests. 

Male cerulean warblers have blue and white upperparts, black necklaces across the breasts, and black streaks on the backs and flanks. 

Females are blue-green above, yellow underneath, and have distinct pale supercilium (eyebrow) above the eyes. 

Listen for the song of cerulean warblers, a buzzed accelerating “zray-zray-zree” and their main call, a buzzy “zzee“. They are very vocal and can imitate the songs of other birds.

Source: Taylor SturmCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The population of this migrant songbird is declining and is considered threatened. 

Cerulean warblers are insectivores (carnivores) that primarily feed on insects such as flies, beetles, weevils, and caterpillars.


Common Grackle

common blackbird grackle
  • Scientific name: Quiscalus quiscula
  • Lifespan: 17-22 years
  • Wingspan: 14-18 in
  • Color: Black and blue

Common grackles are one of the more widespread black birds with blue-colored heads

Found throughout most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, they inhabit woods, fields, farms, and urban areas. 

These medium-sized backyard songbirds have long, keel-shaped tails, dark beaks, and yellow eyes. 

They are classified as songbirds because they have all the vocal equipment of a songbird, not because they have beautiful songs. 

Their song is a high-pitched rising “readle-eak” screech that sounds like a rusty gate opening.

Source: Jonathon JongsmaCC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Male common grackles have glossy black plumage with a blue-green sheen on their heads; females are less iridescent and are mostly brown.

They can also mimic the sounds of other birds or even humans, although not as well as northern mockingbirds can, for example.

Some scientists estimate a total population of over 73 million common grackles.

They are omnivores and feed on insects, minnows, frogs, eggs, berries, seeds, and grain. 

A group of grackles is called a “plague”.


Blue-black Grosbeak

blue black grosbeak
Source: Simon Speich, www.speich.net, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (edited)
  • Scientific name: Cyanoloxia cyanoides
  • Lifespan: 6-7 years
  • Wingspan: 11 in 
  • Color: Deep blue and black

Blue-black grosbeaks are small songbirds found in pairs in humid evergreen forests and edges of tropical lowlands. 

They are a sexually dimorphic species where females have dark brown plumage with a slight reddish hue. 

Male blue-black grosbeaks are deep blue and black with light blue eyebrows and shoulder patches on their wings. The forehead also has a lighter shade of blue. 

Similar to other blue birds, the blue color is due to the way the light strikes their feathers, it is not pigment coloration. 

They might be hard to spot as they prefer to remain hidden in the vegetation, but blue-black grosbeaks love to announce they are present with their vocalization. 

The song consists of 6 whistles and ends with a “see-see-sweet-suu” while their call is a repeated sharp “shek“.

Source: Niels KrabbeCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Black-blue grosbeaks are commonly found in Central and South America, in countries like Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Belize, etc. 

They breed during spring and summer, construct small cup nests, and lay 2 eggs there. Among other materials, they sometimes use a shed snakeskin to build their nests.

These black and blue birds are omnivores and feed on seeds, fruits, insects, snails, and other small invertebrates. 


Southern Cassowary

southern cassowary
  • Scientific name: Casuarius casuarius 
  • Lifespan: 20-40 years 
  • Wingspan: n/a
  • Color: Jet black and deep blue

These huge prehistoric-looking birds are commonly found in tropical rainforests and savannah forests of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia. 

Due to their underdeveloped wings, they can’t fly. Still, southern cassowaries can grow almost 6 ft tall and weigh as much as 187 pounds.

This makes them the third heaviest bird in the world, after the Somali and common ostriches. 

Southern cassowaries have glossy jet black plumage and deep blue color of their heads.

They also have tall, brown casques (helmets) on top of their heads, long drooping red wattles, and large and powerful feet with dagger-like claws.

Wildlife biologists call cassowaries the world’s most dangerous birds; they have killed people with their sharp 5-inch-long claws. 

They are one of the closest relatives of the dinosaurs, as well. 

Southern cassowaries are omnivores that mainly feed on fruit, berries, fungi, rodents, snails, lizards, and occasionally their poop (it is made of half-digested fruit which has nutritional value). 

They can also eat up to 11 pounds of fruit a day!


Tree Swallow

blue and white tree swallow birds
  • Scientific name: Tachycineta bicolor
  • Lifespan: 3 years 
  • Wingspan: 11.8-13.8 in
  • Color: Black, blue, and white

Tree swallows are stunning black and blue songbirds that breed in USA and Canada. 

They can be identified by their dark brown eyes, black beaks, and pale brown legs and feet. Try to also notice their long, pointed wings and short, squared, or slightly notched tails.

Tree swallows are glossy blue-green above with black wings, black tails, and white underparts. Females have duller colors than males, mostly brown with some blue feathers. 

Tree swallows inhabit wet areas like marshes, fields, farms, and woods. 

They are cavity nesters that might even use man-made nest boxes. 

Tree swallows’ song is a cheerful series of liquid twitters that consist of three parts: the chirp, the whine, and the gurgle. They also have several calls: the chatter, short high-pitched submission call, ticking (or rasping) aggression call, the alarm call, and others. 

Source: Jonathon JongsmaCC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tree swallows are omnivores that feed on insects, mollusks, spiders, and occasionally on fruit, berries, and seeds.


Black-throated Blue Warbler

black-throated blue warbler
  • Scientific name: Setophaga caerulescens
  • Lifespan: up to 10 years
  • Wingspan: 7.5-7.9 in 
  • Color: Black, deep blue, and white

Black-throated blue warblers are small New World warblers. 

They breed in the eastern parts of North America, around the interior of deciduous and mixed coniferous forests. 

When the winter comes, they migrate to their wintering grounds in Caribbean islands and Central America.

These songbirds are sexually dimorphic.

Male black-throated blue warblers have deep blue upperparts, black faces and cheeks, and white underparts; females are olive-brown above and light yellow below. 

When first discovered, since males and females look so different, people used to describe them as two separate species. 

Black-throated blue warblers do not change their appearance as the season changes and can be easily recognized in the fall and the spring. 

Their song is a buzzed “zee-zee-zee” with an upward inflection; the call is a flat “ctuk.” 

Source: G. McGrane, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

They feed on insects, especially caterpillars, moths, crane flies, and also spiders. They might occasionally supplement their diet with some fruit.


Eurasian Magpie

eurasian magpie
  • Scientific name: Pica pica
  • Lifespan: 2-3 years in the wild
  • Wingspan: 20-24 in 
  • Color: Black, blue, and white

Eurasian magpies, also known as common magpies, are extremely intelligent birds commonly found around the open countryside with scattered trees. They inhabit Europe, Asia, and Northwest Africa.

Eurasian magpies have glossy black heads, necks, and breasts, iridescent blue-green wings and tails, and white streaks on the belly and scapulars (shoulder feathers).

Their most common call is a repeated “chac-chac“.

Source: Oona Räisänen (Mysid), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

These magpies are so intelligent that they can use tools, imitate human speech, grieve, play games, work in teams, and recognize themselves in a reflection (the mirror test). 

The only non-human species that have passed the mirror test are the great apes, dolphins, elephants, and magpies. 

These birds are omnivores that feed on young birds and eggs, small mammals, insects, carrion, acorns, and grain.

Eurasian magpies are monogamous and breed around spring. They will have a clutch of 3-10 pale blue-green eggs with brown marks that females incubate while the males feed them.


Indigo Bunting

blue indigo bunting
  • Scientific name: Passerina cyanea
  • Lifespan: up to 10 years in the wild 
  • Wingspan: 7.1–9.1 in
  • Color: Deep blue and black

Indigo buntings are small seed-eating birds, the size of a sparrow, that can weigh as little as 0.4 oz.

They are common around woodlands, forests, parks, and gardens, and are frequent visitors to bird feeders. 

These migratory songbirds breed from southern Canada to northern Florida and spend winters from southern Florida to northern South America.

Male indigo buntings are cerulean blue during the breeding season; their heads are indigo blue and the wings and tails are black with cerulean blue edges. 

When the non-breeding season comes, they become brownish; females are brown year-round. 

Males love to sing and have a rapid, excited warble song with each note or phrase being given twice. 

When marking their territory or attracting females, indigo bunting males will emit a high-pitched song that lasts from two to four seconds and sounds like “sweet-sweet chew-chew.” 

Source: G. McGrane, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Both sexes will also use a sharp “chip” alarm call. 

Indigo buntings are territorial birds and omnivores that feed on insects, seeds, and berries. 

These birds usually mate for life; occasionally, they may switch partners within a single breeding season.

Indigo buntings have two or more broods per year with 3-4 white eggs with a few brownish spots. Females are the ones to build the nest and incubate the eggs.


Blue-black Grassquit

blue black grassquit
Source: Dario Sanches from São Paulo, Brasil, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
  • Scientific name: Volatinia jacarina
  • Lifespan: 12 years
  • Wingspan: n/a
  • Color: Glossy blue and black

Blue-black grassquits are small birds that breed in southern Mexico, Central, and South America.

They are sexually dimorphic species, males and females look different. 

Male blue-black grassquits are glossy black-blue and have black tails and wings. Females are brown above and streaked below.

These grassquits can be found in the fields, farmland, and other open grassy areas. 

They are omnivores whose diet includes seeds, often from the tall grasses on roadsides, but also some small insects. 

They are monogamous birds that mate for life – males are known to carry out extended jumping display rituals during the mating season, which gives rise to the local name “johnny jump-up”.

As part of their courting, blue-black grassquits will also make persistent wheezing “jwee” calls.

Source: Eurico Zimbres ZimbresCC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons


Asian Fairy-bluebird

asian fairy bluebird
Source: Ltshears – Trisha M Shears, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Scientific name: Irena puella
  • Lifespan: n/a
  • Wingspan: n/a
  • Color: Intense black and azure blue

Asian fairy-bluebirds are also known as Asian blue-backed fairy bluebirds.

These medium-sized songbirds inhabit forests across tropical southern Asia, Indochina, and the Greater Sunda Islands.

They can be identified by their strong black beaks and legs, and bright red eyes.

Male Asian fairy-bluebirds are shining ultramarine-blue with deep black sides of their heads and underparts. Females are dark turquoise-blue with black flight feathers.

They can also be identified by their liquid “glue-it” call.

Asian fairy-bluebirds live in pairs or small groups and will hide their nests in the densest and most humid areas of the forest. 

They are known to use green moss to camouflage them together with their young. 

These blue-headed birds are omnivores that mostly feed on fruits, nectar from flowers, and some insects.


Great-tailed Grackle

great-tailed grackle
  • Scientific name: Quiscalus mexicanus 
  • Lifespan: up to 22 years in the wild
  • Wingspan: 19-23 in
  • Color: Iridescent black with blue sheen

Great-tailed grackles are also known as Mexican grackles. 

These medium-sized songbirds are native to North and South America. In the USA, they are common in central and southeastern parts of the country. 

Male great-tailed grackles are iridescent black and have a blue sheen on their heads and upperparts; females are brown. 

They are also easy to recognize by their bright yellow eyes, keel-shaped tails, and lots of sounds they make. 

Great-tailed grackles sing multiple songs, ranging from sounding very sweet to sounding like a rusty gate hinge. Both sexes will also make low-pitched “chut” alarm calls.

Source: Niels KrabbeCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

These black and blue birds begin breeding in mid-April and females will lay 4-7 bluish eggs with brown spots. 

They inhabit pastures, wetlands, and mangroves, where they feed on insects, lizards, fruits, grains, worms, fish, and many other animals. 

These highly intelligent and very social birds roost communally in groups ranging from several thousand to up to 500,000 birds.


Shining Honeycreeper

shining honeycreeper
  • Scientific name: Cyanerpes lucidus
  • Lifespan: 5-12 years
  • Wingspan: n/a
  • Color: Black and intense purple-blue

Shining honeycreepers are small warbler-like tanagers that inhabit humid tropical evergreen forests of Central and South America.

They are a sexually dimorphic species with long black downcurved beaks and bright yellow legs.

Male shining honeycreepers have purple-blue heads, backs, and underparts and black wings, tails, and throats. Females are green with greenish-blue heads, and bluish underparts. 

Shining honeycreepers are omnivores that feed on nectar, berries, and insects, mainly in the canopy. 

They are very active birds, and males and females will sing in a duet to maintain their bond.

The song of males is a repeated “pit-pit” while the call is a high-pitched “see“.


Sating Bowerbird

satin bowerbird
  • Scientific name: Ptilonorhynchus violaceus
  • Lifespan: up to 26 years
  • Wingspan: 18-20 in 
  • Color: Black and glossy violet-blue

Commonly found in eastern Australia, satin bowerbirds are medium-sized bowerbird species with one of the most unique courtship rituals in the world. 

They inhabit rainforests and tall wet sclerophyll forests and can be identified by their short pale beaks, bright violet eyes, and elegant plumage.

Adult male satin bowerbirds have an entirely dark plumage with a deep metallic blue sheen. Females are drab green-gray or dirty white.

Many ornithologists consider satin bowerbirds as one of the most advanced since they use tools and mix “paint” to color the walls of their bowers (nest-like structures). 

Males will create and decorate these structures with attention-getting items. The females will then tour many of these local bowers, assessing both structure and suitor before selecting a mate. 

The competition for bower decoration is fierce – many males will steal items from other bowers to improve their own. 

If a female finds a bower she likes, she enters its bower, but the mating ritual isn’t over. The male will then need to dance for her while holding a favorite trinket in his beak. 

These birds for some reason prefer blue-colored items as decoration. 

All bowerbirds are frugivores, that mainly feed on the fruits of trees and bushes; occasionally, they eat insects, spiders, and seeds.


Purple Sunbird

purple sunbird
  • Scientific name: Cinnyris asiaticus
  • Lifespan: 15-20 years 
  • Wingspan: n/a
  • Color: Black and purple-blue

Purple sunbirds are small nectar-feeding birds found in South and Southeast Asia and parts of the Arabian peninsula.

They can be identified by their short downcurved beaks, short square-ended tails, and brush-tipped tubular tongues that help with extracting nectar from deep flowers.

Breeding purple sunbird males have plumage that may appear all black (in low light) or dark metallic blue or purplish-black in better light conditions; their heads are mostly metallic blue-purple. 

Females are olive above, yellowish below, and have a thin yellow supercilium above the eye that looks like an eyebrow. 

These beautiful birds are omnivores and feed on nectar, insects, spiders, and the flesh of fruits and berries. 

Purple sunbirds are fast fliers and can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird.


Purple Martin

purple martin
  • Scientific name: Progne subis
  • Lifespan: 5-7 years
  • Wingspan: 15.3–16.1 in
  • Color: Black and blue

Despite being the largest swallow species in North America, purple martins are still small birds famous for their chattering song and aerial acrobatics.

They are common around fields, marshes, farms, and urban areas and are one of the first South American migrants to return to the USA. 

After wintering in the rainforests of Brazil, purple martins will undertake a 7,000-mile-long journey to the eastern US and Canada. Males will be the first to arrive, a week or two before the females.

They are easy to identify by their notched tails, slightly hooked beaks, and long pointed wings. 

Despite their name, they aren’t really purple.

Male purple martins have completely deep black-blue plumage while females are gray to mottled purple.

They are very vocal birds. Their most common songs are chirps, chortles, rattles, and croaks. When fighting over territory, purple martins will make a “hee-hee” and “zwrack” call when interacting with other species.

Source: Jonathon JongsmaCC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

They are also very social and colonial birds – their largest roosting colony ever discovered had over 700,000 birds! 


Blue-black Kingfisher

blue black kingfisher
Source: Joseph Wolf, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Scientific name: Todiramphus nigrocyaneus
  • Lifespan: 5-10 years 
  • Wingspan: n/a
  • Color: Black, blue, and white

Blue-back kingfishers are medium-sized kingfishers with dark blue heads (crown), pale blue eyebrows, black faces, and pale blue backs that turn darker towards rumps and tails.

They are considered very rare and can be found in Papua New Guinea and adjacent islands of Salawati, Batanta, and Yapen. They mostly inhabit mangroves and forested streams in the lowlands.

Their call consists of a short nasal series of “weeh-wiwiwi” notes.

Blue-back kingfishers are carnivorous and feed on fish or crabs.

Read More: 25+ examples of red and black birds


Summary

This concludes our list of black and blue birds. 

Examples include different warblers, grackles, kingfishers, magpies, jays, and many others. 

Next time, should you see these birds in person, you should be able to recognize any of them with ease! 

And if you enjoyed our article, here are our other popular reads on birds: Examples of blue and white birds and Examples of black water birds

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