Blue is probably one of the most striking colors in the animal kingdom – any blue animals we may encounter is sure to pique our interest and wow us with their stunning beauty. Blue is encountered in a wide variety of animals, from birds to reptiles and amphibians, as well as a number of invertebrates.
It wasn’t easy to choose, but we selected 13 blue animals that can be found in nature. Just keep reading to get to the list, along with pictures and interesting facts about each species, so you can learn more about them.
Let’s get started!
13 Blue Animals: Overview
- Blue Viper Snake
- Blue Iguana
- Blue Morpho Butterfly
- Hyacinth Macaw
- Indian Peacock
- Blue Poison Dart Frog
- Regal Blue Tang
- Blue Grosbeak
- Yabby
- Blue Dragon
- Blue Sea Star
- Portuguese Man o’ War
- Spix’s Macaw
Blue Animals: Pictures and Facts
Blue Viper Snake
- Scientific name: Trimeresurus insularis
- Type of animal: Reptile
- Where found: Indonesia
We start this list with one of the most mesmerizing blue animals on our planet: the blue pit viper. This striking snake is a rare variety of the Sunda white-lipped pit viper – a green snake – native to the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The blue variety is found on the island of Komodo.
It is a venomous and aggressive species, and it feeds on small rodents and lizards, among others. A bite from this snake is not necessarily deadly, but its venom will definitely cause a lot of pain and swelling, and trigger internal bleeding.
It is also featured in our list of animals with purple eyes – its eyes can be pastel purple like in the above picture, but also various other colors.
Blue Iguana
- Scientific name: Cyclura lewisi
- Type of animal: Reptile
- Where found: Grand Cayman Island (Caribbean)
Did you know that there is a totally blue species of iguana? This endangered species is endemic to the island of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, which means that it doesn’t exist anywhere else. It lives in dry and rocky areas, sometimes dry forests, and is a herbivore. It primarily feeds on leaves, fruits and flowers.
The blue iguana has been very close to extinction, with only 15 animals left in 2003, most probably because of overhunting and other human activities since the colonization of the island by Europeans. Fortunately, breeding programs have been put into place since then, which enables to increase the population of these amazing reptiles.
Blue Morpho Butterfly
- Scientific name: Morpho spp.
- Type of animal: Insect
- Where found: Central and South America
Native to the rainforests of Mexico, Central America and South America, these butterflies are truly spectacular. There are 29 species of Morpho butterflies in total, and many share this incredible deep blue iridescent color; and many are large, with a wingspan of up to 20 cm / 8 inches.
Females are often less colorful than males. On their underwings, blue amorphous have a spot resembling an eye to confuse predators – insectivorous birds, lizards, and frogs. Butterflies are famous for their short lifespan, and adult morphos live on average 2 or 3 weeks.
Hyacinth Macaw
- Scientific name: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus
- Type of animal: Bird
- Where found: Brazil
The hyacinth macaw is the world’s largest species of parrot. It is easily recognizable by its beautiful deep blue plumage, with a yellow ring around the eye and another yellow area on the cheeks. They reach 1 meter / 3 ft 3 in in length.
They are native to Brazil, in South America, in 3 main, distinct regions: the Pantanal (the world’s largest wetland), the Cerrado, and a region in the eastern part of the Amazon basin. They mostly feed on nuts and nest in cavities they find in trees.
These showy birds have unfortunately been victims of intensive trapping to feed the pet trade, and they are now threatened by the destruction of their habitat.
Indian Peafowl
- Scientific name: Pavo cristatus
- Type of animal: Bird
- Where found: Indian subcontinent
Also known as the blue peafowl, this species can be found throughout the Indian subcontinent (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka). It has then been introduced in various parts of the world and has sometimes returned to the wild.
This bird is usually called “peacock” by most people, but it is interesting to note that this is actually what male peafowls are called, and female peafowls are called peahens. But when it comes to the amazing blue and green colors, only the male, the peacock, bears them. The females are greyish.
Peafowls usually spend their time on the ground, foraging for food. They are omnivores and eat fruits as well as insects, worms and small reptiles, among others.
Blue Poison Dart Frog
- Scientific name: Dendrobates tinctorius “azureus”
- Type of animal: Amphibian
- Where found: Suriname
This gorgeous tiny frog is native to the region of the Sipaliwini Savanna, a national reserve in southern Suriname (South America). It measures no more than 4.5 cm / 1.8 in and lives up to 7 years. It is of course recognizable easily with its blue color with dark spots and patterns, which are unique to each individual frog, like a fingerprint.
Like other poison dart frogs, its vivid colors are a warning sign: its skin is toxic. These frogs are quite commonly kept as exotic pets, and they lose their toxicity in captivity because they lack the food they usually have in the wild.
Regal Blue Tang
- Scientific name: Paracanthurus hepatus
- Type of animal: Fish
- Where found: Indo-Pacific Ocean
The regal blue tang is a tropical fish that is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from East Africa and Sri Lanka to Japan, Australia, and Samoa in the middle of the Pacific. They usually live in small groups around coral reefs and can reach 30 cm / 12 inches in length. They are omnivores, and their diet comprises mostly plankton and algae.
Along with yellow tangs, they are very popular saltwater aquarium fish, which is one of the biggest threats for these species as a part of the fish that end up in the pet trade are still wild-caught. Other threats include the general degradation of the health of coral reefs or practices such as fishing with explosives or cyanide.
Blue Grosbeak
Source: Wikimedia Commons- Scientific name: Passerina caerulea
- Type of animal: Bird
- Where found: North and Central America
The blue grosbeak is a passerine bird with the males being predominantly blue with black and brown patterns on the wings. The females are brown in color, with black parts on the wings.
They are found in the southern half of the United States and the northern half of Mexico. There are seven subspecies of blue grosbeak, occurring in different parts of their geographical range. They also migrate to Central America and the Caribbean in the winter.
The blue grosbeak is often found foraging directly on the ground. It is an insectivorous bird but sometimes preys on spiders and snails as well.
Cyan Yabby
- Scientific name: Cherax destructor
- Type of animal: Crustacean (Arthropod)
- Where found: Australia
The common yabby, or cyan yabby, is a 30 cm / 12-inch crayfish that lives in freshwater. It is native to Australia, particularly (but not exclusively) to the states of Victoria and New South Wales. Their color can vary significantly depending on a variety of factors, but they fully deserve their spot on this list for the beautiful light blue form.
The blue variety is so pretty that they are actually bred in captivity to feed the pet trade, as they are sought after in Australia. Yabbies are nocturnal creatures, and they play an important ecological role as they feed on detritus. They primarily target plant detritus, but will occasionally consume any dead fish they may encounter.
Blue Dragon
Source: Wikimedia Commons- Scientific name: Glaucus atlanticus
- Type of animal: Mollusk
- Where found: Temperate and tropical oceans worldwide
The blue dragon is a unique-looking sea slug that lives in the open ocean – it is what we call a pelagic species. They are found in most oceans across the world except polar regions, and they float upside down below the water’s surface. They are small animals, not growing more than 3 cm or 1.2 inches.
They are venomous creatures that can be potentially dangerous to humans, which feed on other venomous, pelagic animals, such as the Portuguese man o’ war that we happen to describe later on this page as well. The blue dragon is immune to the venom found in its prey and actually consumes and stores it to become venomous itself.
Blue Sea Star
- Scientific name: Linckia laevigata
- Type of animal: Echinoderm
- Where found: Tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean
The blue sea star is a very eye-catching starfish found in the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, usually in coral reefs and seagrass beds. It can grow up to 30 cm / 12 inches in diameter. Their color can vary: they can be light blue or darker blue, or more rarely other colors such as purple or orange.
These sea stars have various predators in the coral reefs, such as pufferfish, shrimps, large sea snails, or even sea anemones. Their striking colors also made them popular in the aquarium trade and also as dried starfish, often sold with seashells.
Portuguese Man o’ War
- Scientific name: Physalia physalis
- Type of animal: Cnidarian
- Where found: Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans
The Portuguese man o’ war, or man-of-war owes its name to the man-of-war, a 16th-century warship – its shape resembles the shape of the frigate with all sails out. This strange blueish, translucent animal simply floats on the surface of the ocean. It may be mistaken for a type of jellyfish, but it is actually a type of siphonophore.
Portuguese man o’ wars are known for their powerful venom that can potentially kill humans. As is freely drifts on the ocean, its long tentacles inflict deadly stings to the small fish and crustaceans they feed on. They also have predators, such as the blue dragon sea slug we described above, and the huge ocean sunfish.
Spix’s Macaw
Source: Wikimedia Commons- Scientific name: Cyanopsitta spixii
- Type of animal: Bird
- Where found: Brazil
Native to a small region of northeastern Brazil, the Spix’s macaw is officially extinct in the wild since 2019. This happened because of the large-scale destruction of its habitat, a dry forest called the Caatinga. It is one of the smallest species of macaw, with a length of about 22 inches (56 cm).
It is blue with a blueish-grey head. It is named after Johann Baptiste von Spix, a German naturalist who collected specimens back in the 19th Century.
According to Wikipedia, there are now about 177 Spix’s macaws in captivity around the world, obtained from only 7 wild birds that were collected in the 1980s from two different nests.
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