Today’s new addition to Birdorable is a colorful species in the dove family. The Pink-headed Fruit Dove joins our Birdorable Pigeons and Doves!

Pink-headed Fruit Doves are easily recognized by their pinkish purple heads and green backs. Their breasts have a spiffy white and black border stripe between the pinkish-purple above and the light grey below. Males, like our Birdorable version, have bright colors; females are similar but with duller vibrance.

They are native to Indonesia, where they live in forest habitat and feed on fruits, figs, and berries.

Pink-headed Fruit Doves are also known as Temminck’s Fruit Pigeons. Coenraad Jacob Temminck was a Dutch zoologist who had a hand in describing and naming over forty species for science, including many birds (Temminck’s Hornbill) and mammals (Temminck’s Flying Squirrel).

Tomorrow we’ll add a very rare stork to Birdorable. The species is named after an explorer, not a weather event. Can you guess the species?

Today’s new bird is a small species of macaw. We welcome the Blue-winged Macaw to Birdorable!

Blue-winged Macaws are found in forest habitat in parts of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. They feed on a variety of plant-powered foods, like seeds, fruits, and nuts. They can be recognized by their namesake blue wings and a small red patch at the forehead.

Blue-winged Macaws are popular in aviculture, where they are known as Illiger's Macaw. This name comes from the German Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. As pets, they are known to enjoy interaction with their owners. They are also known for their intelligence.

Tomorrow’s new species is found in Indonesian forest habitat. Common birds in their family are typically mostly grey, but these birds are colorful, as well as cute. They are named partly for their coloration and partly for their favorite food. Can you guess the species?

Today’s new species is the Fieldfare, a large species of thrush in the same family as the American Robin. They resemble their Yankee cousins in build and size, and in the way they hunt for worms in the soil.

Fieldfares are Old World birds, and highly migratory. They breed across forests in the north of Europe and Asia. Their winter range extends across much of Europe, down into northern Africa and parts of the Middle East.

Fieldfares can be recognized by their grey heads, ruddy brown upperparts, and spotted fronts. They also have distinctive yellow bills with a black tip.

Tomorrow’s new species is a small macaw named for the color of one of its body parts. These gregarious birds live in forest habitat in parts of South America and have a different name when referring to the species in aviculture. Can you guess the bird?

Today’s new Birdorable species is a tiny type of hummingbird found in northeastern parts of South America. Look at the crazy plumage of the Tufted Coquette!

There are 11 species of coquette in the genus Lophornis. All of these tiny hummingbirds are native to Central and South America. Six other types of coquette have crests like the Tufted Coquette, though their ranges don’t typically overlap, making identification of Tufted Coquettes fairly easy. In these birds, the males have the outlandish crests (and the wild neck tufts as seen in the Tufted) while the females have a typically lower profile (ie, less flashy plumage).

Tufted Coquettes feed on nectar, favoring Orange Milkweed and pigeon pea flowers, among others. Like other hummingbirds, they will also take small insects as prey as available.

Tomorrow’s new bird is closely related to the America Robin, but lives on the other side of the world. Do you know this spotted, migratory bird?

Today’s new species is a type of wading bird found in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The African Jacana is easily recognized by its unique chestnut plumage, its blue beak and facial shield, and by those toes. Look at those crazy long toes!

African Jacanas feed on insects and other small organisms they glean from aquatic vegetation. Their long toes allow them to move across floating wetland vegetation by spreading their weight over a large area. Jacanas have precocial young, meaning chicks are able to walk around on their own shortly after hatching. You better believe they have long toes too, so they can follow dad around as he points out food to them.

Yes, they follow dad around – African Jacanas have a sort of complete role reversal when it comes to breeding. Males care for the eggs and raise the chicks completely on their own.

Tomorrow we’ll add a tiny South American hummingbird with a crazy plumage, including tufts on the head and the neck. Do you know the species?