The top 10 most beautiful Passerine birds in your opinion.

This is an excellent comment @vogelcommando !

I'm really looking forward to your list of the species that you have taken care of in captivity yourself as I know it is going to be very interesting and I'm probably going to have quite a few questions to ask you.

Although I loved reading the information about the personal significance of all of these birds to you I'll focus on the birds on your list that haven't yet featured in others as there are some very interesting species.

I've seen the lawrence goldfinch in Mexico and they are indeed a beautiful little bird with a lot of character.

The scarlet bellied mountain tanager is another gorgeous little bird which unfortunately I haven't seen in the wild or captivity. However, I totally see why it made your list and why tanagers do in general as they are one of my favourite bird families.

The white necked picathartes is an interesting choice for sure. I haven't seen them in either the wild or in captivity but I would love to as they are such an intriguing and strange looking bird and I'll bet they are fascinating to watch too. I remember reading that David Attenborough early in his career went on an expedition to obtain these for the London Zoo.

Like the picathartes, these are an interesting choice and I can see why they are so fascinating for you as they are one very strange looking cotinga indeed and quite distinctive from many species. I think I've seen this species in the São Paulo zoo but not 100 % sure.

The Taiwan blue magpie is a striking bird indeed, I've never seen one of these in the flesh. I really love the contrast between the red beak and feet, the gorgeous blue and black plumage and the bright yellow eyes and the long tail feathers too. Like most corvids / magpies they look like they would have quite large characters too.

The male of the maroon oriole looks like a really handsome bird with that sharply contrasting red / crimson and black plumage and bright yellow eye. Beautiful species and one that I don't think I've seen yet in captivity.

The Taveta weaver is another one I haven't seen. Lovely looking species, beautiful colours and strangely enough reminds me quite a lot of the saffron finch here in Brazil.

 

Thank you for the comment and list @CheeseChameleon2007 !

There are some really beautiful birds on this list for sure.

I'm curious, which of these species have you seen in captivity ?

 

Sadly, none. There are some pretty species for sure, but I've never seen any of them alive.
Many, "favorites" are mostly just admired and read about for me, I get most of my love for animals from literature, and reading everyone else's magnificent adventures with animals. I've never really seen most of my favorite types of animals, but I know hell lot about them.

 

I believe that the white-necked picathartes that David Attenborough's "Zoo Quest Expedition" acquired for London Zoo in 1954 was the first in any zoo in world. (London Zoo already had a grey-necked picathartes that had been in the zoo since 1948.)

 

Thank you for your comment @Tim May !

Wow, that was quite an achievement that David had and it came really so early in his career too.

Out of curiosity, do you know how long these birds lived at the London zoo ?

 

That is a shame @CheeseChameleon2007 , but I guess what it means is that you have a lot more species to tick off on your "to see" list in the future right ?

Part of the fun is the journey / process of seeing species for the first time in either zoos or the wild so when you get round to seeing and ticking a species off the list there is a real sense of expectation, achievement and appreciation for the animal.

 

Sure, I'm just not very sure which animals I'll be able to see. Virtually most of my favorite taxa I have never seen as of yet.
For instance these are my favorite taxa that I have never seen,
The genus Otus
Chaldocera
Ostracoda
Arctocebus
Bryozoa
Caperellidae
Nemerta
Pantopoda
Opisteuthidae
And only one Microcebus, grey mouse lemur.

 

Well that octopus species from New Zealand that you asked me to find information on earlier is going to be a bit challenging to see unless you invest in a mini submarine

But the birds on your list in this thread won't be too challenging to tick off from the list over the years

 

The octopus hasn't been seen for 21 years too, so even harder....
I dont know, maybe I'll be able to see some of those birds.

 

I'm sure they are kept at some zoos relatively close to where you live, just check out the zoochat gallery for zoos in the USA that are fairly nearby and I'm sure there will be one or two there.

 

I'm not sure if many of my species are in zoos near me, maybe the Tanagers. Are they kept at Como park? I never see them, just the Taveta golden weavers which actually just barely made the list.

 

No idea @CheeseChameleon2007, I guess you'll have to check out the species lists of zoos in Minnesota or perhaps also in neighbouring States but I'm sure there will be some that keep the species you want to see.

The Gouldian finch for example is quite common in captivity and in zoo aviaries so I think that one might be the first that you tick off the list.

 

I actually have seen the Gouldian finches, but I think that's the only one. At cincinnati.

 

I know that the grey-necked picathartes that London Zoo acquired in 1948 lived there until 1957.

In addition to the white-necked picathartes that London Zoo obtained in 1954, the zoo acquired three more of the species in 1957. I think the zoo had white-necked picathartes until 1960 but I'm not sure if the bird that was there in 1960 was the original 1954 acquisition or one of the subsequent arrivals.

 

Here my second list of Top 10 most beautiful songbirds, this time the species I've not seen sofar alive but which are high on my wish-list !
- Silver-breasted broadbill - Serilophus lunatus. I've seen already a number of Broadbill-species and taken care for 2 species but this one I haven't seen alive sofar. There seem to be some around in the privat sector in Europe so who knows..
- Red warbler - Cardellina rubra. A beautiful species but during my trip through Mexico I missed to visit the areas in which this species is found so a reason more to return to Mexico... one day...
- Black-headed bunting - Emberiza melanocephala. A wunderfull species ( like a number of other bunting-species ) and maybe even not belonging on this list because in the 1970s / 1980s it should have been avaible in the Belgium bird-trade which I visited with some regularity in those days but due to the huge number of birds and species I can't tell and remember having seen this species... :



- Crescent-faced ant pitta - Grallaricula lineifrons. A beautiful and funny-looking species from a family almost unknown in public ( and private ) collections and also in the wild they seem to be difficult to observe. Hope to see at least one one day !
- White-plumed antbird - Pithys albifrons. Great species from what I've seen on photos. It seemed to have been kept in captivity but seemed to do not very well. Conclusion : I have to go to South America to see this ( and a lot of other ) species ! :


( stamp of a White-plumed antbird )

- White-headed robin chat - Cossypha heinrichi. Member of a well-known genus from which a good number of species are well-known and bred in good numbers in captivity and from which I also already took care for and bred with several species. This species with its complete white head looks a little different, is much rarer and complete unknown from captivity.
- Flame bowerbird - Sericulus ardens. The most beautiful bowerbird which is almost unknown in captivity and sofar I've only heared that the now closed Al Wabra Center bred it succesfully. Hopefully a zoo or birdpark will try to obtain the species in the future and give us the change to see this species alive.



- Red-eared firetail - Stagonopleura oculata. In the family of the Estrildidae there is a large number of realy beautiful species and many of them are well-known aviary-birds. The Red-eared firetail is one of the few exeptions and outside of Australia almost ( or completely ? ) unknown.
- White-capped tanager - Sericossypha albocristata. From the Tanager-family I've taken care for a good number of species and have seen an even larger number of species but this species is still lacking from my list. The combination of the white, red, blue and black colloration makes it a very special bird and when I went to South America for the ant pittas and antbirds I also will try to locate this species !
- Gurney's pitta - Hydrornis gurneyi. Taken care for a number of pitta-species, seen a lot of other species and most of them are realy beautiful. This species is not only beautiful but also threatened but has been in the European bird-trade untill the late 1970s / beginning 1980s and maybe I've even seen it.... unnoticed !



Of course there are many, many more species which are beautiful and which I've not seen sofar but this is just a small selection of the ones I'm keen to see one day !

 

The grey-necked picathartes lived at London for quite some time it would seem.

With the white-necked picathartes if this was indeed the original bird / pair of birds collected by Attenborough in 54 (which I assume were also adults when captured) then that is a good six years. Perhaps not really great by todays standards but good for back then I think.

I think I also remember in one of Durrell's books (this may have been in "Zoo in my luggage") him mentioning this species and also that he tried to collect this bird in West Africa but I can't remember if he was successful in achieving this.

 

Thank you for another brilliant comment @vogelcommando !

I have actually only seen one of the species from this part of your top 10 list.

I've seen the red warbler in the wild in Mexico twice and I actually saw this species completely by chance in a heavily urbanized area the first time.

The first time was in Mexico city in the second section of the Chapultepec park (near to the national Natural History Museum) where there is a little lake with an island in the middle.

I saw this startlingly red little bird fly across the water and flit among the trees for a bit and was later able to identify that it was a red warbler that I had seen.

The second time was also within the Mexico city area in the Desierto de los Leones National Park.

Similarly by chance I was walking on one of the trails and I saw this beautiful little red bird hopping around the branches of a conifer tree but this time I had my binoculars in my backpack and was able to observe it better.

 

Yes Gerald Durrell's book "A Zoo in my Luggage" devotes a chapter called "The Bald-headed Birds" to picathartes.

 

Thank you @Tim May

Yes, thats right and it was quite a funny chapter too if I remember rightly.

I definitely have to re-read some of these books at some point as they really were formative reading for me and just very well written too.

 

@vogelcommando So I've had a look at some of the birds on your very impressive list (some of species I'll admit I wasn't familiar with) and these are a few of the species that stand out to me.

Crescent-faced ant pitta, I think this is the species from your list that I would have to say I find the most beautiful. Sure it has what most would consider to be very drab and boring plumage and as a passerine in a country with species like the Andean cock of the rock and several brightly coloured tanagers it might be a bit underwhelming for many. But I love the brown colouration and barred chest and it has a very endearing look with the large head and dinky little legs.

The silver-breasted broadbill, what a gorgeous bird ! The plumage isn't spectacularly colourful but I love the colours and the oversized head is quite endearing too. It must be quite a treat to see one of these in the wild in South-East Asia.

The white-plumed antbird, this is a strange looking bird, I don't find it beautiful but it certainly has a very different and interesting look with those curious tufts of white feathers around the head and beak.

White-headed robin chat, again a very striking bird and actually strangely enough one that looks very "African" to me as without seeing where it was from I just automatically assumed Africa. The colours sort of remind me of some of the textiles and art of the Kuba ethnic group of Central Africa.

Red-eared firetail looks to be a beautiful little Australian bird. The plumage and its colouration kind of remind me of a Jackson Pollocke painting and / or (again similar to the robin chat) remind me somehow of Aboriginal Australian rock / bark paintings.