10 of the ugliest birds in the world

Most of backyard birds we have seen are lovely, cute, beautiful, however, there are some birds are with freaky looking, a bit ugly. Most people may not be familiar to them.

It’s for sure that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if you don’t agree with our choice of the ugliest birds. Please let us know in the below comment.

 Frogmouth

Some of creatures are so ugly that they can’t help but look cute. Frogmouth is one of them.It’s easy to confuse frogmouths with owls, but they don’t have talons like owls, in fact their feet are very small, which are mostly related to nightjars. Therefore, they usually throw their preys against rocks after capture them.

You probably won’t see or hear frogmouth in the sunlight because it is nocturnal and prefers to sleep all day.Even if you were to spot at frogmouth sleeping upright on a tree branch, you probably not see it because its plumage is a mottled green, gray and brown exactly like tree bark.

They are native to Asian,Australia and found on Tasmania.They are noted for their long wings, short legs, and stout bills.Frogmouths have rather weak legs and feet to grab prey, therefore, they pounce and use their wide, hooked beak to dispatch they prey.

There are about 14 frogmouths species, most with large bright yellow eyes and a wide set beak that is yellowish to olive gray in color. The beak is abnormally wide like the mouth of frog, triangular in shape, and sharply hooked, with whisker-like bristles around the bill.

Frogmouths have a large, flattened, hooked bill that looks like a frog’s mouth when it is open! .

Capuchinbird

At the first sight, you may find that capuchinbird looks like a small, hunchbacked vulture.The hunchbacked neck looks like it is going to swallow the bald, pale blue head and beak at any moment, which make you think of a combination of vulture with rooster. While the body plumage is a blend of brown, orange and chestnut colors, the wings and tail are in dark brown or black. 

Capuchinbird inhabits in the rainforest of northern and eastern South America (Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, and Guyanas).Their call is similar to the low mooing of a cow.Most of the time, these birds enjoy spending their time hanging out in the canopy, plucking fruits and insects.

When comes to the breeding season, the males gather in a lek displaying to the females by emitting their calls and puffing up their feathers.

The females, which look much like the males, will usually mate with the alpha male. Each female will then go on to build her nest of twigs and raise her single check alone.

 

Shoebill

Shoebill known as whale-headed stork, is a large stork-like bird. It derives its name from its enormous shoe-shaped bill.Let’s be sincere. You can not assume a bird to provide you a charm pageant when its own face is similar to a clog footwear.

However, that doesn’t prevent the shoebill from being one of the most well-known birds on the must-see checklist for birdwatchers in Central-Eastern Africa.  They might be ugly birds, but they are actually sort of lovable considering clog footwear bill.

The greatest feature of this species is its huge, bulbous bill, which is straw-colored with erratic grayish markings. Shoebill is also most famous of its slow movements and tendency to stay still for long periods, which is as statue- like. It is normally silent, and it will utter a cow-like moo as well as high-pitched whines when it needs to.

Standing tall (virtually 5 feet) on long, lanky lower legs, it is typically slate-gray along with rounded yellow eyes and a tuft of plumes on the back of its own scalp.Evaluating approximately 4 inches vast and also almost 9 inches long, the shoebill’s clodhopper bill is actually an ashen yellow with slashes of gray markings on it.

The shoebill is distributed in freshwater swamps of central tropical Africa, from southern Sudan and South Sudan through parts of eastern Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, western Tanzania and northern Zambia.

In the end of this particular lancinating beak is a hook-shaped nail that makes it possible for the shoebill to guillotine its own target, which is commonly lungfish but they also eat water snakes, baby crocodiles, small waterfowl, rodents and reptiles.

 

Muscovy duck

The Muscovy was originally a wild large bird native to America and are non-migratory birds that like to roost in trees at night. Muscovy ducks are mostly gentle unless the female is sitting or has a young brood. Muscovy drakes don't quack, instead they produce a low hiss. They are capable of flying well and great artist of escaping, since  they only need to be wing-clipped. However, though with a name of duck, they do not swim as much as other breeds because their oil glands are under developed. It means that they do not need a large source of water.

They can be quite large weighing 7 kg while the females weigh 2-3 kg. They like eating some vermin at sometime and should not be kept with guinea pigs or rabbits.

There are a wide range of colours, White, Blue, Black and Chocolate, but you can find a wide range of other colours of Muscovy duck.

 

King vulture

If you’re looking for the most ugliest bird from southern Mexico to southern Argentina, the king vulture is definitely a distinctive bird that will impress you with its unique outlook. This scavenger is full of colors and has a fleshy wattle above the nostrils, which is a bit bright for a scavenger. In Mayan legend, the king vulture was seen as a messenger between the gods and humans and it was a popular figure among the Mayan codices.

King Vulture has thick claws and a keen eyesight. However, unlike other bird species, the king vulture doesn't have eyelashes. What’s more, another interesting thing about the king vulture is that it eats like a king. When the king vulture lands on a feeding site, the smaller vultures will stand by the side and let king vulture eat the prey first. King vulture will be superior among the vultures.

The good news is that there are many king vultures in the wild currently due to lost of effort on protecting the endangered species.

 

Long wattled umbrellabird

The long-wattled umbrellabird (cephalopterus penduliger) has black bodies and the wattle is covered in short scaly feathers.

As its name indicates, long wattled umbrellabird has characteristic umbrella-like crest on their head. For male species, it has an inflatable wattle dangling from the middle of its chest, while the female species has much shorter wattle. This long wattle is covered in short, scaly feathers, when inflated, it looks like a pine cone. You can find them on the pacific slope from southwestern Colombia through Ecuador, mostly in the foothills between 460 and  5900 ft.They are likely to Inhabit the mid-level to upper story of tall trees.They will migrate to higher altitudes during the breeding season.

 

Philippine eagle (Filipinski orao)

The Philippine eagle is the national bird of Philippine, as its name indicated. It inhabits mountain forests, mostly in steep and rugged mountains. Philippine eagle has a dark face, creamy-brown nape and crown.Their back is dark brown, while the underside and under wings are white.

Their heavy legs are yellow, with large, strong and dark claws, and their large, high-arched, deep beaks are bluish-gray. The eagle's eyes are blue-gray.

The Philippine eagle is measuring 86–102 cm (2ft10in–3f4in) in total length. Male philippine eagle is about 10% smaller than female species. The average for the female equals the maximum reported for the harpy eagle and Steller's sea eagle.

Life expectancy for a wild eagle is about from 30 to 60 years. However, philippine eagle is the most endangered, less than 500 pairs remaining in the world.

 

The harpy eagle (Harpia Harpyja)

Harpy eagle, known as Harpia Harpyja, related to Harpies from Greek mythology, which is the predatory “frightful, flying creatures with hooked beak and claws”. 

Harpy is the largest and most powerful raptor found throughout its range, which measures to be about 1m and weight of 9kg.

This dark gray bird of prey has a very distinctive look, with feathers atop its head that fan into a bold crest when the bird feel threatened. Like most eagles, the female harpy is almost twice as large as the male.The harpy eagle’s legs can be as thick as human being’s wrist, and its curved, back talons are larger than grizzly bear claws at 5 inches long.

It is pretty strong, adult females take larger prey than males, recorded weight of about 6 to 9kg in flight and fly off without landing, enormous feat of strength.

Harpy eagle still occurs over a considerable range, from Mexico to northern Argentina and live in forested areas.

 

Blue footed booby

Blue footed booby is a large, heavy-bodied seabird with long daggerlike bill. The Adults have distinctive blue feet.

Blue footed booby is average 32 in length and weights 1.5kg, female is slightly larger than the male. Brown wings, distinctive yellow eyes are placed on either side of its bill and oriented towards the front, enabling excellent binocular vision.

They usually prey on fish by diving headlong into the water.Fish eater, feeding on small schooling fish, sardines, anchovies, mackerel, flying fishes. Blue feet indicate the current health condition of booby.

 The blue-footed booby ranges among the continental coasts of the eastern pacific ocean from California to the Galapagos islands south into Peru.

 

California Condor

California condor is the largest North America land bird, about 3m wingspan, weight of up to 12kg, the heaviest North America bird species.

The plumage of California condor is black with patches of white on the underside of the wings. It’s with bald head and the skin color varies from gray on young birds to yellowish and bright orange on adults. 

 

The condor's head and neck are barely naked, while the skin of the head and neck is capable of flushing based on its emotional state, which serve as communication between individuals. They can only make a few hissing or grunting sounds that can heard when very close.

It has gray legs and feet, an ivory-colored bill, a frill of black feathers surrounding the base of the neck, and brownish red eyes. The juvenile is mostly a mottled dark brown with blackish coloration on the head. It has mottled gray instead of white on the underside of its flight feathers.

California is one of the ugliest birds and also the longest-living birds with lifespan 60 years. But there are only 518 living wild as of 2019.

 It has ranged from British Columbia to Baja California and inland to the Rocky mountains.

Individual bird is capable of traveling up to 250 km (160 mi) in search of carrion.