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List of birds of Honduras

Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience

A vibrant Scarlet Macaw perched at Coco Reef in Mexico, showcasing its bright red, blue, and yellow feathers.

Honduras is a beautiful country in Central America with many kinds of birds. As of June 2023, 798 bird species live in or visit Honduras. This list includes birds that stay all year, those that come only in summer or winter, and others that pass through.

The scarlet macaw is the national bird of Honduras.

One special bird, the Honduran emerald, can only be found in Honduras. Some birds are rare visitors, while others were brought to the country by people. Scientists aren't completely sure about a few birds because they don't have clear proof they've been seen there.

Many of these birds face challenges because their homes are changing. Learning about these birds helps us understand and protect Honduras's rich natural world. The list follows an order used by bird experts in North and Middle America.

Tinamous

Tinamous are one of the oldest bird groups. They look like ground birds such as quail and grouse but are different. They belong to their own group called Tinamiformes and are related to birds like rheas, emus, and kiwis.

Ducks, geese, and waterfowl

Fulvous whistling-duck

Order: Anseriformes   Family: Anatidae

The family Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These birds live well in water. They have webbed feet, flat bills, and special feathers that keep them dry.

Guans, chachalacas, and curassows

Crested guan

Order: Galliformes   Family: Cracidae

The Cracidae are large birds that look a bit like turkeys. The guans and curassows live in trees, while the smaller chachalacas live in more open areas. These birds usually have dull-colored feathers, but some curassows and guans have bright decorations around their faces.

Some birds in this group include:

New World quail

Buffy-crowned wood-partridge

Order: Galliformes   Family: Odontophoridae

The New World quails are small, round birds that live on the ground. They look a bit like other quails but are from a different family.

Flamingos

American flamingo

Order: Phoenicopteriformes   Family: Phoenicopteridae

Flamingos are social birds that walk in shallow water. They are usually between 3 to 5 feet tall and live in many parts of the world. Flamingos eat small sea animals and algae. They filter these through their special beaks, which they hold upside-down while feeding.

One type found in this area is the American flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber.

Grebes

Pied-billed grebe

Order: Podicipediformes   Family: Podicipedidae

Grebes are small to medium-sized birds that live in freshwater. They are good at swimming and diving. They have special toes that help them move in the water. However, because their feet are far back on their bodies, they are not very good at walking on land.

Pigeons and doves

Order: Columbiformes   Family: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are strong birds. They have short necks and short, thin beaks. They have a special fleshy part on their bills called a cere.

Cuckoos

The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds have slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs.

Nightjars and allies

Order: Caprimulgiformes   Family: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are birds that fly at night. They lay their eggs on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short beaks. Most nightjars have small feet and long, pointed wings for flying. Their feathers are soft and help them hide.

Potoos

Order: Nyctibiiformes   Family: Nyctibiidae

Potoos, also called poor-me-ones, are large night birds. They are like nightjars and frogmouths. Potoos are active at night and eat insects. They do not have bristles around their beaks like true nightjars.

Swifts

Order: Apodiformes   Family: Apodidae

Swifts are small birds that stay in the sky most of the time. They have very short legs and never land on the ground, only resting on upright surfaces. Many swifts have long, curved wings.

Hummingbirds

Honduran emerald, Honduras' only endemic bird species

Order: Apodiformes   Family: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are small birds. They can hover in one spot because their wings flap very fast. They are the only birds that can fly backward.

Rails, gallinules, and coots

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Rallidae

The Rallidae family has birds like rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. These birds live in wet places such as lakes, swamps, or rivers with tall plants. They are quiet and like to hide, so they are hard to see. Most have strong legs and long toes for walking on soft ground. Their wings are short and rounded, so they are not very good at flying.

Finfoots

The Finfoots are a small group of tropical birds. They belong to the family Heliornithidae and are part of the Gruiformes order. These birds have special webbed lobes on their feet. One example is the Sungrebe (Heliornis fulica).

Limpkin

Limpkin

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Aramidae

The limpkin is a large bird that looks like a rail. It has brown feathers with a grayer head and neck.

Thick-knees

Double-striped thick-knee

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Burhinidae

Thick-knees are birds in the Burhinidae family. They live all over the world, especially in warm places, but some are also in Europe and Australia. These birds have strong black or yellow-black beaks and big yellow eyes. Their feathers help them hide. Even though they are called waders, most like dry or semi-dry areas.

Stilts and avocets

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Recurvirostridae

Recurvirostridae is a family of birds that walk in water. These birds include avocets and stilts. Avocets have long legs and curved bills. Stilts have very long legs and thin, straight bills.

Oystercatchers

American oystercatcher

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Haematopodidae

The oystercatchers are large, noisy birds that look like plovers. They have strong beaks to open molluscs.

Plovers and lapwings

The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings. They live in open areas near water all around the world.

Jacanas

Northern jacana

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Jacanidae

The jacanas are birds that live in warm places near water. They have very big feet and claws, which help them walk on plants that float on the surface of shallow lakes. Their favorite places to live are these calm, shallow waters.

Sandpipers and allies

Red-necked phalarope

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Scolopacidae

The Scolopacidae family has many small to medium-sized birds that live near water. These birds are called sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers, and phalaropes. Most of them eat tiny animals from mud or soil. Their legs and beaks are different lengths, so many can share the same place without running out of food.

Skuas and jaegers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Stercorariidae

The Stercorariidae family has medium to large gray or brown birds. They often have white marks on their wings. These birds build nests on the ground in cold areas and fly far during migration.

Gulls, terns, and skimmers

Franklin's gull

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Laridae

Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds that includes gulls, kittiwakes, terns, and skimmers. These birds are usually gray or white, often with black markings on their heads or wings. They have longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are seabirds that are usually gray or white and often have black markings on their heads. Most terns catch fish by diving, but some eat insects from the surface of fresh water. Terns can live a long time, with some living more than 30 years. Skimmers are a small group of tropical birds that look like terns. They have a long lower beak that they use to feed by flying low over the water and skimming for small fish.

Tropicbirds

Tropicbirds are beautiful white birds that live in warm oceans. They have long tail feathers and long wings with black marks, plus black markings on their heads.

Sunbittern

The sunbittern is a special bird that lives in tropical parts of the Americas. It is the only bird in its family, Eurypygidae, and its genus, Eurypyga.

Northern storm-petrels

The storm-petrels are tiny seabirds. They eat small creatures and tiny fish from the water while flying above it. Their flight moves up and down like a bat's wings.

Shearwaters and petrels

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Procellariidae

The procellariids are medium-sized birds called "true petrels". They have special nostrils and a long outer wing feather.

Storks

Storks are large birds with long legs and necks. They have long, strong beaks and are mostly quiet. They can make clattering sounds with their beaks to talk to each other near their nests. These nests can get big and are sometimes used for many years. Many storks travel long distances during migration.

Frigatebirds

Frigatebirds are large seabirds that live above tropical oceans. They have long wings and forked tails. They can be black-and-white or all-black. Male frigatebirds have special colored throat pouches they can inflate. These birds are good at flying and can stay in the air for many days. They cannot swim or walk, and need a running start to take off from the water.

One kind found in Honduras is the Magnificent frigatebird.

Boobies and gannets

Order: Suliformes   Family: Sulidae

The sulids include the gannets and boobies. These birds live near the coast and catch fish by diving into the water.

Anhingas

Order: Suliformes   Family: Anhingidae

Anhingas are also called "snake-birds" because their long necks look like snakes when they swim. Male anhingas have dark feathers and a special crest on their necks. Females have lighter feathers. Anhingas have webbed feet and short legs. After diving, they spread their wings to dry off.

Cormorants and shags

Phalacrocoracidae is a family of birds that live near the coast and eat fish. They include cormorants and shags. Most of these birds have dark feathers, but some are black-and-white, and a few have colorful feathers.

Pelicans

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are big water birds with a large pouch under their beaks. They belong to the Pelecaniformes group and have webbed feet with four toes.

Herons, egrets, and bitterns

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Ardeidae

The family Ardeidae includes bitterns, herons, and egrets. Herons and egrets are medium to large birds with long necks and legs. They walk in shallow water. Bitterns are usually shorter-necked and more cautious. When herons and egrets fly, they pull their necks in, which is different from other long-necked birds like storks.

Some birds in this family found in Honduras include:

Ibises and spoonbills

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Threskiornithidae

The Threskiornithidae family has big birds that live on land and in shallow water, like ibises and spoonbills. These birds have long wings with flight feathers and can fly well.

Some birds in Honduras are:

New World vultures

Order: Cathartiformes   Family: Cathartidae

The New World vultures look like vultures from other parts of the world, but they are not closely related. They help by eating animals that have already passed away. New World vultures can find food using their strong sense of smell.

Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Pandionidae

The osprey is a medium-sized bird that likes to eat fish. You can find them all over the world.

Hawks, eagles, and kites

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Accipitridae

Accipitridae is a family of birds of prey. It includes hawks, eagles, kites, harriers, and Old World vultures. These birds have strong hooked beaks, powerful legs, sharp talons, and excellent eyesight.

Barn-owls

Order: Strigiformes   Family: Tytonidae

Barn-owls are medium to large owls with big heads and special heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs. One type is the American barn owl, Tyto furcata.

Owls

Order: Strigiformes   Family: Strigidae

Owls are birds that are usually small or large. They live alone and are awake at night. They have big eyes that look forward, ears, and a sharp beak. Each owl has a special circle of feathers around its eyes called a facial disk.

Trogons

The family Trogonidae includes trogons and quetzals. These birds live in tropical woodlands. They eat insects and fruit. Trogons have soft, colorful feathers, and the males and females often look different. Though they can fly quickly, they usually don't fly far. Their bodies are built more for climbing trees.

Motmots

Order: Coraciiformes   Family: Momotidae

Motmots are bright birds with long, special tails that they wave around. In many motmots, the ends of the longest tail feathers can break off, making the tail look like it has a racket at the end.

Kingfishers

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long pointed beaks, short legs, and short tails. They belong to the order Coraciiformes and the family Alcedinidae.

Some kingfishers found in Honduras include:

Puffbirds

Order: Piciformes   Family: Bucconidae

Puffbirds are related to jacamars but they look different. Puffbirds are mostly brown, rufous, or gray. They have big heads and flat bills with a small hook at the end. Their soft feathers and short tails make them look round and puffy, which is how they got their name.

Some puffbirds found in Honduras include:

Jacamars

Jacamars are birds that live in tropical South America and can also be seen as far north as Mexico. They catch insects while flying and have shiny feathers, long bills, and tails. They look a bit like bee-eaters, but they are actually closer relatives of puffbirds.

Toucans

Toucans are colorful birds from the Neotropics. They have very big, bright bills that can be almost half as long as their bodies.

Woodpeckers

Order: Piciformes   Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with strong, chisel-like beaks. They have short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues that help them catch insects. Many woodpeckers tap loudly on tree trunks. Some species have two toes pointing forward and two backward, while others have only three toes.

Falcons and caracaras

Order: Falconiformes   Family: Falconidae

Falconidae is a family of birds that hunt during the day. They catch their food with their beaks.

New World and African parrots

Order: Psittaciformes   Family: Psittacidae

Parrots are birds that come in different sizes and have a special curved beak. They stand up straight and have four toes on each foot. Two toes point forward and two point backward, which helps them hold onto branches and other things.

Manakins

The manakins are birds that live in warm parts of Central and South America, and on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. They live in forests. The males are usually very colorful, while the females are often dull green. Manakins eat small fruits, berries, and insects.

Some manakin species found in Honduras include:

Cotingas

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cotingidae

Cotingas are birds that live in forests or near forests in tropical South America. Not much is known about them. They have wide bills with hooked tips, rounded wings, and strong legs. Many male cotingas are brightly colored or have special feathers.

Tityras and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Tityridae

Tityridae are small to medium-sized birds that live in forests and woodlands in the Neotropics. They are now their own family, after used to be grouped with Tyrannidae, Pipridae, and Cotingidae. These birds are not as good at singing as other birds. Most of them have simple colors.

Royal flycatcher and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Onychorhynchidae

This small group of birds was named in 2018. Before that, people thought these birds belonged to a different group called tyrant flycatchers.

Some birds in this group are:

Tyrant flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers are birds that live from North to South America. They look a little like other insect-catching birds, but they are stronger and have thicker beaks. Most of them eat insects, and many have simple, plain colors. These birds do not make complex songs like some other birds.

Typical antbirds

Antbirds are small birds that live in the forests of Central and South America. They eat insects found on or near the ground. Many antbirds follow groups of army ants because the ants scare out small creatures that the birds can eat. Most antbirds are not brightly colored; they are usually brown, black, and white.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Thamnophilidae

Antpittas

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Grallariidae

Antpittas look similar to true pittas. They have strong, long legs, short tails, and stout bills.

Antthrushes

Antthrushes look like small birds. They have strong legs, very short tails, and thick beaks.

The birds in this group include:

Ovenbirds and woodcreepers

Ovenbirds are small birds that live in Central and South America. They eat insects and build nests that look like little ovens. Some nests are made with sticks or placed in tunnels and rock crevices.

Woodcreepers are brown birds that stand upright with stiff tails. They mostly eat insects they find on tree trunks.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Furnariidae

Vireos, shrike-babblers, and erpornis

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Vireonidae

The vireos are small to medium-sized birds. They are usually green and look like wood warblers, but they have thicker beaks.

Crows, jays, and magpies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Corvidae

The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, treepies, nutcrackers, and ground jays. These birds are usually larger than other Passeriformes and some of them are very clever.

Swallows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Hirundinidae

The Hirundinidae family is good at catching food while flying. They have slim bodies, long wings, and a short wide beak. Their feet are best for sitting, and the front toes are partly connected.

Waxwings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Bombycillidae

The waxwings are birds with soft, silky feathers and special red tips on some of their wing feathers. In the Bohemian and cedar waxwings, these tips look like sealing wax, which is how they got their name. These birds live in northern forests. They eat insects in the summer and berries in the winter.

Treecreepers

Treecreepers are small birds that live in woodlands. They are brown on top and white underneath. These birds have special thin, pointed beaks that curve downward, which they use to find insects hiding in tree bark. They also have stiff tail feathers that help them climb straight up tree trunks.

Gnatcatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Polioptilidae

Gnatcatchers are small, delicate birds that look similar to Old World warblers. They move quickly through the leaves, looking for insects to eat. These birds are usually a soft bluish-gray color and have long, pointy beaks perfect for catching tiny bugs. They live in open woodlands or scrubby areas and build their nests in bushes or trees.

Wrens

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Troglodytidae

The wrens are small birds with loud songs. They have short wings and thin, down-turned bills. Some species hold their tails upright. These birds eat insects.

Mockingbirds and thrashers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Mimidae

The mimids are birds that include thrashers, mockingbirds, tremblers, and New World catbirds. These birds are good at singing. They can copy many different bird sounds and other noises. They are often gray or brown in color.

Some of these birds are the Blue-and-white mockingbird, the Black catbird, the Gray catbird, the Tropical mockingbird, and the Northern mockingbird.

Dippers

Dippers are small birds that live near water in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. They move their heads up and down, which is how they got their name. One type of dipper found in these areas is the American dipper.

Thrushes and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Turdidae

The thrushes are birds that mostly live in the Old World. They are often round and soft-looking. They eat insects or other small things, usually finding food on the ground. Many thrushes have beautiful songs.

Olive warbler

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Peucedramidae

The olive warbler is a small bird with long wings. It has a gray body and olive-green wings with two white bars. Males have an orange head and breast, while females have a yellow head and breast.

Waxbills and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Estrildidae

These are small birds that live in warm places. They stay together in groups and eat mostly seeds. They have short, thick beaks. Their feathers are bright and come in many colors and patterns.

Old World sparrows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Passeridae

Sparrows are small birds. They often have brown or gray feathers and short tails. They have strong beaks. Sparrows eat seeds and also like to eat tiny insects. One common type of sparrow is the House sparrow.

Wagtails and pipits

The family Motacillidae has small birds with medium to long tails, like wagtails, longclaws, and pipits. They are slender birds that eat insects and live in open areas near the ground.

One bird from this family in Honduras is the American pipit.

Finches, euphonias, and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Fringillidae

Finches are small birds that eat seeds. They have strong, cone-shaped beaks. Many finches sing lovely songs.

Some finches found in Honduras include:

Thrush-tanner

This bird belongs to the order Passeriformes and the family Rhodinocichlidae. It used to be grouped with another family but was moved to its own family in 2017.

One species is the Rosy thrush-tanager, Rhodinocichla rosea.

New World sparrows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Passerellidae

Until 2017, these birds were grouped with another family called Emberizidae. Though we call them sparrows, they are not related to the sparrows from the Old World, which belong to a different family called Passeridae. Many of these birds have unique patterns on their heads.

Yellow-breasted chat

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Icteriidae

This bird was once thought to be part of the wood-warblers group. In 2017, it was placed in its own special family.

Troupials and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Icteridae

Icterids are small to medium-sized, colorful birds from the New World. They include grackles, blackbirds, and orioles. Most of these birds have black feathers, often with bright yellow, orange, or red colors.

New World warblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Parulidae

The wood-warblers are small, colorful birds from the New World. They usually live in trees, but some live on the ground. These birds eat insects.

Cardinals and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cardinalidae

Cardinals are strong birds that eat seeds. They have thick beaks and live in open woodlands. The males and females of these birds often look very different from each other.

Some birds in this group include:

Tanagers and allies

The tanagers are small to medium-sized birds that live in warm places in the New World. Many have bright, beautiful colors. They eat fruits, seeds, and insects. Most tanagers have short, rounded wings.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Thraupidae

Images

A Wilson’s Snipe bird perched on a fencepost in central Utah.
A male Ruddy Duck swimming at Whipsnade Zoo in England.

Related articles

Honduras
Gruiformes
Duck
Goose

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on List of birds of Honduras, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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