There is no shortage of green birds in Georgia, where the climate can be perfect for many birds to come and go. This location is warm enough in many places to accommodate migrating birds.
Read on to learn all about more than two dozen types of green birds that live or migrate to Georgia.
Contents
1. Green Heron
- Scientific Name: Butorides virescens
- Length: 18 in
- Weight: 6 oz
- Wingspan: 26 in
Green herons are dark birds who prefer to stick close to muddy waters. These birds are stocky and have short legs on their ovular bodies.
2. Townsend’s Warbler
- Scientific Name: Setophaga townsendi
- Length: 5 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 8 in
Townsend’s warblers are small birds that have striped yellow and black bodies with dark green backs. These birds have a specific color pattern that helps them blend into the forest they live in.
3. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Scientific Name: Archilochus colubris
- Length: 3.5 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 4 in
Ruby-throated hummingbirds have a stunning mix of colors. The bodies of these birds are an emerald color, giving them a green look.
4. Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Scientific Name: Archilochus alexandri
- Length: 3 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 2 in
It may be difficult to see the green color on a black-chinned hummingbird, but when they turn its back to you, it becomes obvious. This bird has a tan or beige underbelly that helps them blend in with trees and bark.
5. MacGillivray’s Warbler
- Scientific Name: Geothlypis tolmiei
- Length: 6 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 3 in
A MacGillivray’s warbler can easily blend in with leaves as they perch on a branch. This bird has a brown or beige head, but the color quickly changes around its neck, giving them an olive-green color on its chest, wings, and beck.
6. Yellow-billed Loon
- Scientific Name: Gavia adamsii
- Length: 3 ft
- Weight: 11 pounds
- Wingspan: 5 ft
A yellow-billed loon is a diving bird, meaning they have dark colors on its body to help them blend in with the murky waters they populate.
7. Broad-billed Hummingbird
- Scientific Name: Cyanthus latirostris
- Length: 4 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 5 in
A broad-billed hummingbird has many colors, including a stunning sapphire blue that mingles with emerald to make a remarkable feather coat.
8. Common Merganser
- Scientific Name: Mergus merganser
- Length: 2 ft
- Weight: 3 pounds
- Wingspan: 3 ft
Common mergansers are ducks that can have multiple different color patterns, but the typical patterns include a greenish-black head that can help them blend into the murky water as they hunt for up to five minutes underwater.
9. Glaucous Gull
- Scientific Name: Larus hyperboreus
- Length: 2.5 ft
- Weight: 3 pounds
- Wingspan: 5 ft
Some glaucous gulls can have a greenish tint to their feathers, depending on their diet. Like flamingoes, these birds can have a different color depending on the types of foods they eat.
10. Blue-throated Mountaingem
- Scientific Name: Lampornis clemenciae
- Length: 5.5 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 3 in
The blue-throated mountaingem is most notable for the blue color that rests along its tail feathers and the area under its beak. However, they do have a small emerald patch on their shoulders that can make them easy to identify.
11. Great Crested Flycatcher
- Scientific Name: Myiarchus crinitus
- Length: 9 in
- Weight: 1 oz
- Wingspan: 1 ft
Great crested flycatchers are one of the greenest birds in Georgia. This bird has a brown, tan, or beige color on its head, shoulders, and wings. However, along the belly is a yellowish-green color.
12. Budgerigar
- Scientific Name: Melopsittacus undulatus
- Length: 7 in
- Weight: 1 oz
- Wingspan: 1 ft
The budgerigar is a common parakeet and is one of the most famous birds in Georgia and North America. These birds are a deep and rich green color that makes them look stunning.
13. Green-tailed Towhee
- Scientific Name: Pipilo chlorurus
- Length: 7 in
- Weight: 1 oz
- Wingspan: 10 in
The green-tailed towhee, as its name suggests, has a green tail that is mingled with a gray color. This green color also lines the bird’s wings and inches up the back of the bird’s neck.
14. Anna’s Hummingbird
- Scientific Name: Calypte anna
- Length: 4 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 5 in
Anna’s hummingbirds are some of the most stunning birds in Georgia. This bird has a magenta color along the feathers on its face and neck, with some birds having the color creep along the top of its head. However, this bird has a vibrant green color on its back and belly.
15. Orange-crowned Warbler
- Scientific Name: Vermivora celata
- Length: 5 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 7 in
The orange-crowned warbler has orange on its feathers, as you might suspect from its name, but this bird also has a pale green color on its belly and body that creep into the orange-yellow color it has.
16. Bachman’s Warbler
- Scientific Name: Vermivora bachmanii
- Length: 4 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 5 in
The Bachman’s warbler has a greenish-yellow color all over its body, with black splotches along its chin and on its eyes. Some of these birds have a deeper green color than others, making them easy to spot while among trees.
17. Green-winged Teal
- Scientific Name: Anas carolinensis
- Length: 14 in
- Weight: 13 oz
- Wingspan: 2 ft
A green-winged teal is one of the smallest ducks in the country and has a combination of colors on its coat of feathers. This duck has green along the sides of its head and brown lining above and below the green portions.
18. Rivoli’s Hummingbird
- Scientific Name: Eugenes fulgens
- Length: 14 cm
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 18 cm
Rivoli’s hummingbird has a mixture of emerald, black, and purple on its coat of feathers. The purple color is located between the bird’s eyes, making it immediately identifiable. The emerald color lines the neck, chin, and shoulders of this bird.
19. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- Scientific Name: Tyrannus forficatus
- Length: 9 in
- Weight: 1.5 oz
- Wingspan: 6 in
The scissor-tailed flycatcher is a bird with mostly natural and neutral tones. However, this bird does have some green along its back and wings. The green on this bird can be hard to spot and may make identifying it a challenge.
20. Greater Scaup
- Scientific Name: Aythya marila
- Length: 22 in
- Weight: 2 pounds
- Wingspan: 2 ft
The greater scaup is a duck that migrates in a flock of others. This duck is easy to identify and spot because of its distinct color combinations. The head-on this duck is such a deep green color that it can be easily mistaken for black.
21. Wood Duck
- Scientific Name: Aix sponsa
- Length: 2 ft
- Weight: 1 pound
- Wingspan: 3 ft
The wood duck is among the weirdest-looking ducks and looks like it’s wearing a helmet. The green color on the top of this bird’s head is marked with small white stripes that make the duck look unique and easy to spot.
22. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
- Scientific Name: Selasphorus platycercus
- Length: 4 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 5 in
The broad-tailed hummingbird has a gentle, pale green color along its back, wings, and head. This bird also has a magenta color under its chin and bill, making it easily identifiable.
23. Painted Bunting
- Scientific Name: Passerina ciris
- Length: 5 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 9 in
The painted bunting is a colorful bird that has a blue head with a red stripe going down its neck and a ring of green around its back. This bird is easy to spot in the trees since it has so many colors.
24. Great Blue Heron
- Scientific Name: Ardea herodias
- Length: 4.5 ft
- Weight: 5.5 pounds
- Wingspan: 7 ft
Great blue herons may have such a pale green color that they can be easily seen and missed. Usually, these birds look white, gray, or bluish, their green color going mostly unnoticed.
25. Mexican Violetear
- Scientific Name: Colibri thalassinus
- Length: 5 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 5 in
The Mexican violetear is a small bird that is mostly green but has small patches of blue around the sides of its head and the back of its neck. This bird is recognizable by its long, slender beak.
26. Pine Warbler
- Scientific Name: Setophaga pinus
- Length: 5.5 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 9 in
Pine warblers have tan and grey colors along most of its body. However, these birds have a green color on its back that help them blend into the trees and branches they call home.
27. Allen’s Hummingbird
- Scientific Name: Selasphorus sasin
- Length: 3.5 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 5 in
Allen’s hummingbirds are iconic for their orange, red, and green colors. These birds have an emerald set of feathers along their wings that make them easy to spot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Although you may have more than a few questions, these answers can help clear up any confusion about green birds in Georgia.
What kind of bird is greenish?
There are too many greenish birds to determine the type of bird by color alone. You may need to look at the color pattern to determine what kind of bird you’re observing. Taking a picture can help when referencing online material.
What are small green birds usually called?
Some of the most common green birds in Georgia are hummingbirds. Whenever you see a green bird in trees, these are likely hummingbirds or warblers, but those in water may be ducks or herons.
Final Thoughts
Many green birds in Georgia may be visiting for the cold months, but others may be staying for the long haul.
Green birds in Georgia are plentiful, but they can be different types of birds. Many birds prefer to live in the versatile climate that Georgia offers, where it is cold enough to snow and warm enough to lay eggs and keep their nests safe.