Everyone wonders but there is no clear winner, yet.

Is it the magnificent Mandarin Duck? - Royalty of all quackers:



Is it the fancy American Flamingo? - The fluffiest of the long-legged avians:



Is it the phoenix-like Golden Pheasant? - The Chinese bird that for some reason is also found in Great Brittain:



Or is it another bird? Maybe it is the King Penguin for its ability to be cool at all times. Maybe all of them chickens for they are hottest and most delicious deep-fried and seasoned with cayenne pepper? 

DISCUSS

Many fine choices, but I have to go with the cardinal. That beautiful red plumage and the distinctive face really stand out. I'm sure my cat's are convinced it's cherry flavored, but they'll never find out.

(I haven't yet worked out how to make images work on mobile, so I'll update this later to include pictures. 🤣)

But what about puffins? They have pretty cool & colourful beaks.

parkertallan Wrote: I'm sure my cat's are convinced it's cherry flavored, but they'll never find out.

I once saw a blackbird outsmart our old cat. 🤣

edit: as promised, puffin pic.

From a standpoint of pure adorableness, I will have to say that my absolute favourite bird would be the Toucan. While it might not have been the most stylish of birds, only being in the single digits when it comes to the number of possessed colours, its noticeable beak help to make more than up for that. With its already adorable nature, I see no reason not to put this at the top.

If we are going the route of overall best-bird though, I will have to go with the unpopular choice of the crow. I have no idea how people can hate those cute buggers. Even if their appearance is limited to only one colour, their sheer intelligence more than makes up for it. They exchange gifts with people who feed them over an longer span of time. How could anything get better than that?
It's even doing a dramatic stare into the sky. How cool is that?

Cinn Wrote: (I haven't yet worked out how to make images work on mobile, so I'll update this later to include pictures. 🤣)

But what about puffins? They have pretty cool & colourful beaks.

parkertallan Wrote: I'm sure my cat's are convinced it's cherry flavored, but they'll never find out.

I once saw a blackbird outsmart our old cat. 🤣

It's essentially the same. You copy the picturelink (direct link works best) into the image box thingy. Code should work as well if you use [img] link [/img]
ill test it:


Two comments: Now I crave cherry flavored waterice.
And f that cat. Good for that bird. Who has the birdbrains now!?

One more birb I forgot!
The Harlequin Duck is easily on my personal top three ducks. It is not a species well-known, but the name is regonizeable for other reasons.

TheWritingBirb Wrote: It's essentially the same. You copy the picturelink (direct link works best) into the image box thingy. Code should work as well if you use [img] link [/img]

I tried this earlier and it failed epically both ways I tried it. 😆

Yeah, it was pretty funny watching that cat not realise it's dinner was being stolen till it was too late.

If I had to choose my favorite, it would be this one


The European Bee-eater

Blue jays are probably the prettiest bird I have locally, but they are territorial jerks like magpies, swooping at your head and at any cat they see.  I prefer cardinals, mockingbirds, and goldfinches because they sing nicely.

I'm really fond of bowerbirds, because they come the closest out of all birds to making something humans recognize as art.  Weaverbirds and Lyrebirds are also admirable for their skills in building and imitating.  Birds of paradise have some pretty awesome mating displays, although so do may other birds from peacocks to grouse to grebes that literally walk on water.

I'm also really fond of ravens and amazon gray parrots because of their intelligence.  Cockatoos don't tend to speak clear words but some of them have amazing spatial intelligence - I watched one unscrew a wingnut, set it aside, remove the screw the wingnut was on, and then separate the two pieces of plastic the screw had been holding together, all in less than 3 minutes.

Honorable mention to owls because they win at stealth - I KNOW they live around me, but I've only seen one twice ever, when they decided to sleep on top of a telephone pole instead of in hiding.


Best bird is... fantasy bird that combines multiple cool traits of real birds, I guess? 

NOOOOOOO!  The birds are spreading out of control!

It's an avian attack.

Nowhere is safe!

The birds!  The birds!

This is just nidicolous.

I wont be anserine for this!

gej302 Wrote: NOOOOOOO!  The birds are spreading out of control!

It's an avian attack.

Nowhere is safe!

The birds!  The birds!

This is just nidicolous.

I wont be anserine for this!

omg

Birdgang? It's time for murder

chicken ready

The ones in my backyard, obviously. Yes, I play favorites. 

That's primarily magpies, house sparrows, hooded crows, common blackbirds, great tits (though I'm not sure what the hell the namer were thinking, they're fearless little fighters who deserves a name as badass as they are) and the occasional raven, nightingale and seagull. 

... I guess that's a lot. I'll go with the magpies. I find them interesting to watch and I have a weak spot for iridescent feathers. 

I'm very fond of doves and pigeons. Cockatiels and budgies are so darn cute though! It makes me really wish I could stand the constant noise birds make so I could keep one or two of them

The Dodo. They knew how to get out early, and I respect them for it.

How has this thread got so far with no-one mentioning any of these birds?

I agree that puffins are great. I saw one put on a show in the Bronx zoo (all his own idea, no humans involved except the audience). He was very talented and had great tail wiggles. He could send droplets of water skittering in all directions.

However, I vote for the blue footed booby as best bird. They are hilarious.


And, worst bird should go to ostriches because I don't appreciate their exhibitionist ways. I have seen way too much ostrich sex. In fact, I have never seen an ostrich in person not having sex.

WinnieSallow Wrote: However, I vote for the blue footed booby as best bird. They are hilarious.

.

Its so cute! Omg i didn't know that one



I love it!

What is the best bird? A penguin, of course!