Green Heron by Joshua Zhou / Macaulay Library .Birds are brilliant and colorful; they sing sweet melodies; they perch outside our windows to bring us joy. And they… send a cold shiver down our spines? It seems like there’s a bird out there for every emotion we can feel. So today we celebrate the spooky birds—including not just night birds and vultures, but birds that happened to be captured in an evocative moment: a Western Capercaillie “howling at the moon”; a Green Heron in a scene festooned with spiderwebs, a hummingbird with a decidedly goth sensibility, and many more gems from our Macaulay Library archive. We hope they thrill you (in a good way).
The intensity packed into the yellow glare of a tiny Boreal Owl. Image by Marcin Dyduch / Macaulay Library . Himalayan Griffons on a misty crag. Image by Manaswee Maiti / Macaulay Library . For a seabird that’s used to ocean glare, this Buller’s Albatross can do some glaring of its own. Image by Brendan Tucker / Macaulay Library . American Woodcocks can keep an eye on you even when they’re turned the other way. Image by Karim Bouzidi / Macaulay Library .
We love the snaky vibes we get from this forest of Cape Griffon necks. Image by Angus Fritton / Macaulay Library .
Even hummingbirds can rock an edgy look (and name). Black Metaltail by Steve Juhasz / Macaulay Library . The Shoebill fixes its prey with a penetrating stare over a truly massive bill. Image by Raphael Lebrun / Macaulay Library . The largest raptor in the Western Hemisphere has a mythologically spooky name. Harpy Eagle by Leon Moore/ Macaulay Library .
These masters of camouflage have enormously wide bills and huge eyes. Common Potoo by Ivan Morales Vertel / Macaulay Library . Greater Adjutants look rather like marionettes from a Tim Burton movie. Image by Frank Thierfelder / Macaulay Library . Wearing tones of ink and blood, the Dusky Crimsonwing would be a spooky bird indeed—but it’s just so cute. Image by Stefan Hirsch / Macaulay Library .
The gorgeous colors of the Blood Pheasant. Image by Manjunath Desai / Macaulay Library . Not quite an owl, but not a nightjar either. Australian Owlet-nightjar by shorty w / Macaulay Library . Is it just us or does this Western Capercaillie look like it’s howling at the moon? Image by Valery Treitsiak / Macaulay Library .
It doesn’t get much spookier than a massive vulture that eats bones. Bearded Vulture by Marc Gálvez / Macaulay Library . These tiny, mischievous crows look like they know something we don’t. Eurasian Jackdaws by Colby Baker / Macaulay Library . Eurasian Griffons can fast for a month at a time—but when food appears, watch out. Image by Guenther Karmann / Macaulay Library .
A fast, agile raptor with a taste for snakes. Secretarybird by Yann Kolbeinsson / Macaulay Library . We love the frosty breath as we imagine this Common Raven quoths, “Nevermore.” Image by Bryan Calk / Macaulay Library . Yellow eyes that seem to stare right through you. Long-eared Owl by Brad Imhoff / Macaulay Library . We love the muted colors in this image of a notoriously secretive bird. Yellow Rail by Hugues Brunoni / Macaulay Library .
