The shoebill stork might be my favorite doofy bird of them all. It’s hard to capture all their weirdness in one painting, so here are some of the most entertaining things I’ve found about these giants.

(Many thanks to user Nesnad, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, for the use of this video! This was recorded in May 2008 at the Ueno Zoo (Tokyo).

A friend introduced me to the african jacana by sending me a picture of a father bird carrying his chicks under his wings. I remember staring at that picture and wondering what the heck I was seeing! I’ve linked to several resources so you can see these dads protect their young.

• PBS Nature video: Jacana Dad Rescues his Chicks from a Crocodile (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at ebird.org

You gotta love an inflatable throat pouch! The jabiru is one of my doofiest storks - and ALL storks are doofy birds in my opinion. This picture was taken in Brazil and shows a pair on their nest, up in the treetops.

Don’t get confused! There is a black-necked stork in Australia that is sometimes called the jabiru - they’re awesome, but not this awesome.

• Nat Geo Kids: The Jabiru: The Tallest Flying Bird in the Americas (YouTube)

• Jabiru stork baby waiting for food (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at eBird

The male greater sage-grouse really knows how to put on a show! Watch the videos below to see - and hear - their mating display in action.

• Video: PBS Nature: Sage-Grouse Display Lekking Behavior

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, The Male Display (Greater Sage-Grouse)

• Photos and Videos available at eBird.org

Free coloring book page!

Click to download a 5x7 in. coloring book page for the coloring connoisseurs in your life.

Large casque on its head? Check. Spectacular wattles? Check. Giant size? Check. The cassowary is the ultimate doofy bird. Here are some resources to help you get to know one of the most beautiful and misunderstood doofs in the book.

• BBC Nature, Giant Cassowaries are Modern-Day Dinosaurs (YouTube)

• Facts About the Cassowary (YouTube)

• Cassowary at Cape Tribulation (YouTube - note: someone drops an F-bomb in this video)

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org

Sporting a dapper pompadour and a long, feathered throat wattle, this doof is a special treat. They’re very rare and that means that finding videos and photos of them is a little more challenging, but totally worth the effort.

• Long-wattled umbrellabird display in captivity (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at ebird.org

• Short video on conservation efforts (in Spanish) (YouTube)

The world is in love with the adorable kiwi bird of New Zealand, and there are lots of resources to learn more about them and how to help conservation efforts to save their dwindling population.

• National Geographic: Bizarre, Furry Kiwi Bird Gets a Closer Look (YouTube)

• Wild Kiwi on Rakiura Track Stewart Island (YouTube)

• Massey University: Kiwis as you’ve never seen them (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org

Not every doof is rare and exotic: for those who live in the western hemisphere, the brown pelican is a familiar sight whenever we visit the seashore. But look at that face! That’s definitely a doofy bird.

• Check out this cool picture of a pelican who just caught a fish (Facebook)

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org

• Brown Pelican: Foraging and Diving Technique video (YouTube)

• The American Bird Conservancy has some great information available about pelicans, including a video showing little ones in the nest. (abcbirds.org)

I love all of the doofs, but the roseate spoonbill was one of the first I ever met, and it has a special place in my heart. The species had a big year in 2021, when many young males ventured far beyond their usual range and were seen in the mid-Atlantic and even northeastern states!

• Washington Post: Spoonbills seen in Washington, D.C., and Virginia (Summer 2021)

• Audubon Florida: The Roseate Spoonbills of Florida Bay (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org

These tall raptors of the African savanna are truly unique creatures. They are the ultimate doofy bird: a little bit scary, a little bit silly, and completely fascinating.

• National Geographic India: Secretary Birds (YouTube)

• Animalogic: Secretary Birds: Killer Queens (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org

• Scientific American: Secretary Birds: Weird, But Not That Weird (blogs.scientificamerican.com)

You could walk right by a Common Potoo in the South American forest and have no idea. These birds blend perfectly into their surroundings - until they open those bizarre yellow eyes, that is! The potoo was one of the hardest birds to paint for the book because they are strange in so many different ways. Here are some videos and other resources to help you get to know them better.

• The word’s most brazenly hidden bird (YouTube)

• Animalogic: Potoos are hauntingly cute (YouTube)

• Find a Common Potoo in Costa Rica (TikTok)

• Photos and Videos available at eBird.org

Everybody loves a puffin! Especially popular are the Atlantic puffins who sport brightly-colored faces during the breeding season. People travel from all over the world to Iceland to see them nest in the volcanic cliffs each spring.

• BBC Earth: Puffin Hunts Fish to Feed Puffling (YouTube)

• PBS Nature: Puffins Pick the Perfect Home (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org

These little songbirds have a secret: a beautiful, multi-colored crest. Very few people get to see one of these rare creatures, and even fewer will get a glimpse of their spectacular display - but we’re in luck! There are photos and videos of them for us to explore.

• “Atlantic Royal Flycatcher” video showing crest display (YouTube)

• “Royal Flycatcher” video showing crest and snakelike movements (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org

This is a great image from Wikimedia Commons because it shows the difference between male inca terns (with their moustaches) and the females. Found along the western coast of South America, these striking birds are more plentiful than some other doofs, but are still classified as a “Near Threatened” species.

• ABC Birds: Inca Tern

• Creature Feature: Inca Tern (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org

Another master of disguise, the tawny frogmouth is one of Australia’s most frequently photographed birds. Although they are sometimes mistaken for owls, they are something altogether different.

• Wicked Wildlife, “The Tawny Frogmouth” (YouTube)

• “Your Life Will Be Better After You Know About Frogmouths,” (YouTube) - note, this covers all frogmouths, not just the Australian doofs

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org

From those poofy neck feathers to their amazing mating display, there is so much to love about these large African birds.

• Animal Fact Files, “Kori Bustard Facts: they can fly if they want to” (YouTube).

• Video of mating call and display (YouTube)

• Photos and videos available at eBird.org