Top 10 Birds Named for Gemstones
This list combines two of my biggest passions - birds and gemstones.How gem colors are related to bird colors and bird names?
- Emerald is always green (and birds with emerald in the name do have green)
- Ruby is always red, pinkish red or purplish red
- Amethyst is always purple / violet
- Turquoise is usually... turquoise (obviously), but the gem color can also be blue, blue-green, green
- Sapphire is associated with the color blue (though it occurs in many colors)
- Tourmaline is the most colorful gem and mineral in the world (so expect many colors)
It's at #1 because there are 2 gems in the bird's name! (sapphire and emerald, blue and green, respectively). The bird's back is usually green but you can't see its back in this image.
This bird looks so cool! I would love it to have it as a pet.
The color of its plumage is the color of the finest emeralds (green with a hint of blue)
Its throat has the color of pinkish ruby
Amethyst color is purple and this bird has the color purple
A tiny member of the pigeon family, native to Australia. Appreciated by Crwth the pigeon fancier.
Beautiful. The pale spots make it look like a sparkling diamond. Thanks for adding it, Crwth.
It's a species of hummingbird found in Colombia and Ecuador. Tourmaline is the most colorful gem in the world and this bird is pretty colorful as well, although it isn't the most colorful bird in the world. But I get the idea of the bird's name - the layers of different colors look like the layers in a multi-colored tourmaline crystal (for example - elbaite crystal; elbaite is a tourmaline variety).
Beautiful
I also like the turquoise and the tourmaline
(aka amethyst-throated mountaingem. Yes, mountain gem). It lives in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
The name of the color turquoise comes from the color of the gem turquoise. The word turquoise means "Turkish" in French because the gem was imported from Turkey. The first recorded use of turquoise as a color name in English was in 1573.
A miniature toucan in green.
It's a species of hummingbird (its upper part of the body is green and its lower part - white).
It is found in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.