The natural world is full of bright surprises, like these amphibian, insect, avian—and even mammal—species
23 of the Most Colorful Animals in the World
Updated on May 21, 2025
Betta fish
These gorgeous, long-tailed marine creatures—formerly known as Siamese fighting fish—have been famous for centuries for their aggressive nature, which breeders have exploited in order to fight them, arena (er, fishbowl) style. While Betta splendens are unremarkable in appearance until agitated, when they become colorful animals, ornamental Betta fish boast their famous bright colors as the result of breeding.
Jewel bug
A member of the family Scutelleridae, this is a true bug—that is, an insect with sucking mouthparts. This psychedelic spotted beauty sucks the life out of crops like pigeon peas in its native southeast Asia. Its iridescent coloring is the result of a swath of pigment lying beneath clear, stacked layers that reflect light.
Lilac-breasted roller
The national bird of Kenya is called “Kambu” in Swahili. The lilac-breasted roller enlivens its native grasslands with blocks of blue, purple, turquoise, yellow, green, reddish-brown and black plumage. It’s one of the animals in the world that has the most colors, so it’s no surprise that its stunning plumage makes for some of the most beautiful animal photos. Unusually, the female is just as colorful as the male, but vivid as the birds are, their eggs are just plain white.
Veiled chameleon
The veiled chameleon is called such because of the bony protrusions on its head, which flow water down to its mouth, ensuring survival in dry habitats. Veiled chameleons are also known as Yemen chameleons, as they hail from Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The 2-foot-long reptile has a base color of green, streaked with blue, brown and yellow stripes. However, true to its chameleon nature, it can change color according to its mood: Its nervous system sends a message to the pigment-containing chromatophore cells in its skin, telling them to expand or contract, and in response, they turn brown, blue, red or yellow.
Scarlet macaw
Believe it or not, the vivid feathers on this largest parrot species actually help it to blend in with the bright fruits and flowers of the South American rainforest in which it lives. Others in the 17 different macaw species—such as the red-fronted and great green macaws—are almost (but not quite!) as colorful as this rainbow-colored one.
Fiery-throated hummingbird
This little neotropical avian native of Costa Rica and Panama is downright bedazzling—shimmering with a golden-copper and blue-green sheen. Glittery as pictures of the bird make it appear, though, its full spectrum of color is only visible from certain angles. This jewel-like hummingbird is tiny in stature. averaging about 11 centimeters in length.
Gouldian finch
Gouldian finches are native to Australia and are considered endangered. The wee birds may have red, black or yellow heads (in addition to their purple, green, blue and orange body feathers). And although they are all members of the same species, they prefer to mate with other Gouldian finches that sport the same head color. According to scientists, the red-headed finches are more aggressive than the black-headed ones.
Stork-billed kingfisher
The most striking feature on this multi-colored river- and lakeside dweller of south Asia just might be its long, pointed red beak—which matches its feet, and which it uses to great effect in catching and eating its prey of fish and small mammals. It’s also fierce enough to chase off predatory birds such as eagles.
Pink orchid mantis
This praying mantis from Southeast Asia is usually white in color; a few in the wild, though, skew pink and purple. It got its name because the female resembles an orchid, while males are smaller and more brown and green in color. Research shows that the female orchid mantis evolved to its unique colors over time to attract the pollinating insects that are in turn attracted to orchids.
Gooty tarantula
Did you know that blue is one of the rarest colors for animals in the world? No matter what name you use for this enormous, metallic, bright-blue tarantula that hails from the spider webs and forests of India’s Andhra Pradesh region—parachute peacock spider, Gooty sapphire ornamental tree spider, Poecilotheria metallica—you must also call it critically endangered. Scientists suspect that its coloring has an evolutionary function, but whatever that might be now seems, sadly, to be failing this amazing and enormous critter.
Peacock mantis shrimp
Not only is this crustacean wildly colored—with a green-red-blue-orange shell and spots dotting its front legs—it apparently has the most powerful color-detecting eyes of any animal. With 16 color-receptive cones (compared with humans, who have just three), the peacock mantis shrimp can detect 10 times more color than a human, including ultraviolet light.
Loch’s chromodoris
This sea slug of the Indo-Pacific may look alarming, with its striking colors and three dark stripes—but it’s only a danger to the marine sponges on which it feasts. Like other nudibranchs (basically, shell-less sea snails), which are also elaborately patterned and colored as well as hermaphroditic, this one presents a visual warning to would-be predators that it tastes terrible.
Paradise tanager
This color-block bird, patched with black, blue, green and red, looks almost too perfect—and perfectly odd—to be real. Imagine coming across an entire fruit-and-insect-eating flock of them in the Amazonian forest. You might just think your eyes were playing tricks on you!
Parrotfish
The colors of these vibrant tropical reef fish vary greatly, even among the males, females and juveniles of the same species, say scientists. This isn’t the only strange thing about the species, though—other animal facts include that it changes its sex throughout its seven-year lifespan, it lives in a sandy environment comprised mostly of its own poop and it spins itself a see-through mucous cocoon to sleep in at night.
Rosy maple moth
Hailed as the most gorgeous of all moths by some insect enthusiasts, Dryocampa rubicunda looks like a tiny triangle of pink-and-yellow sherbet as it flits through forests throughout the eastern part of North America. The moth’s pink coloring varies from insect to insect—covering the entirety of both wings in some individuals, and none in others.
Flower hat jelly
This rare, delicate and diaphanous marine animal sports a bell that’s pinstriped, with tentacles that are neon green, blue and pink and can roll and un-roll themselves. As much as it looks like a delightful (if Seussian) child’s toy, beware! It can kill and eat whole fish and has venom potent enough to leave a burn-like rash on human skin.
Tube anemone
With its 12-inch-long tentacles that it uses to capture prey, the exquisitely (and variously) colored tube anemone is a beast—and a beauty! Found in the shallows of coral reefs, tube anemones may resemble pale pink flowers or glowing green pompons; unfortunately, this has given them favored status among aquarists, who support an industry that removes them from their natural habitats.
Turquoise-browed motmot
Called “flamboyantly plumaged” by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the turquoise-browed motmot from the Yucatán is an adorable ball of olive, orange and turquoise feather-fluff, with an incredible long tail that looks like an exclamation point. Experts say the longer the tail, the more successful a male bird will be in attracting a mate.
Pink katydid
Appearing as if it had been dunked in the same magenta water used to dye carnations, the unusual pink katydid is actually more closely related to a cricket than a grasshopper—although it’s sometimes referred to as a long-horned grasshopper. Only 1 in 500 katydids morph pink, due to a pigmentation condition related to albinism known as erythrism, making them rare. Scientists speculate that their smart-animal coloring gives them camouflage among forest flowers.
Orchid bee
Found flying about in the rainforest from Mexico to Brazil are these living jewels, known as the orchid bee or euglossine bee. These industrious buzzers are dark green and shiny, with sparse hairs, but they can be brilliant blue, purple, red, gold, brassy or a mixture of these colors. Others boast yellow, orange or green stripes on otherwise black abdomens. Native to South and Central America, they’ve lately become naturalized in parts of Florida.
Orange-thighed tree frog
As if its eponymous orange thighs weren’t eye-popping enough, this coastal Australian amphibian also sports a lime-green body and traffic-sign yellow feet and belly. It breeds during the rainy season, with groups of males calling to females for 12 hours straight. Females can lay as many as 1,600 eggs at a time in shallow pond waters.
Fire-bellied newt
This semi-aquatic amphibian may look unremarkable enough at first glance from above. But flip it over, and its neutral black or brownish color gives way to a spectacularly speckled red belly. Although it’s native to China and Japan, two species can now be found in Florida and Massachusetts, as a result of the pet trade. This little fella might look cute, but beware, its skin excretes poisonous toxins as a defense.
Mandrill
Boldly colored mammals are hard to come by, which makes this shy, largest-of-all monkey a very rare creature indeed—all the rarer now, as it’s threatened with extinction due to hunting and habitat loss across equatorial Africa. Its blue-and-red face and powder-puff rump actually become even more brightly hued when the animal is excited.
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Sources:
- International Betta Congress: “About Betta splendens”
- Ask a Biologist: “True Bugs”
- Wex Exhibits: “Beetles”
- Tsavo Trust: “The Lilac-Breasted Roller: 5 Interesting Facts About Kenya’s National Bird”
- National Geographic: “Veiled chameleon”
- National Geographic: “Macaws”
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology: “Fiery-throated Hummingbird”
- Australian Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water: “Gouldian Finch”
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology: “Stork-billed Kingfisher”
- National Geographic: “Praying Mantis Looks Like a Flower—And Now We Know Why”
- Butterflies.org: “Sapphire Ornamental Tarantula (Poecilotheria metallica)”
- National Aquarium: “Peacock Mantis Shrimp”
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology: “Paradise Tanager”
- National Geographic: “Parrotfish”
- Butterflies and Moths of North America: “Rosy maple moth”
- Monterey Bay Aquarium: “Flower Hat Jelly”
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology: “Turquoise-browed Motmot”
- Charlotte Urban Institute: “A Unique Pink Insect”
- U.S. Forest Service: “Orchid Bees”
- The Animal Files: “Orange Thighed Frog”
- The Spruce Pets: “Fire Belly Newt”
- National Geographic: “Mandrill”
