42 Brown Animals Found in Nature

Brown is probably one of the most common colors in nature. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be visually pleasing! Even though brown animals tend to blend in with their surroundings, they have their own unique beauty when you look closely enough.

Here are some of nature’s most beautiful animals with brown coloration:

1. Copperhead

• Latin name: Agkistrodon contortrix
• Habitat: Can be found in forests and lowland regions in eastern North America
• Size: About 20″-37″ long
• Diet: Various small vertebrates as well as arthropods
• Colorful feature: Copperheads are usually copper brown with larger, darker brown spots shaped like hourglasses. However, there is a rare gray variant that is closer to being medium gray and charcoal gray.

The copperhead is a common venomous snake, but its bite is rarely fatal. In many cases, a threatened or surprised snake will deliver a “dry bite” with no venom. If the threat persists, it will likely bite again, this time using its venom.

2. Brown Fish Owl

• Latin name: Ketupa zeylonensis
• Habitat: Can be found in forests and wetlands from Turkey to Southeast Asia
• Size: About 2-3 pounds
• Diet: Mostly frogs, fish, and crustaceans
• Colorful feature: This smallish, striking owl has beautifully patterned wings of dark brown and very pale tan. The rest of the body is soft cocoa brown, and the eyes are an intense, piercing yellow.

The brown fish owl has a very large range (more than 4,300 miles), so it’s not surprising that there are four subspecies. The coloration of the different subspecies varies somewhat; some are a pale reddish brown, while others are closer to seal brown.

3. Thoroughbred

• Latin name: Equus ferus caballus
• Habitat: Domestic
• Size: About 62″-68″ tall at withers
• Diet: Domestic horse feed and various types of grass and plant matter
• Colorful feature: Thoroughbreds come in a few different colors. But many of them are bay or brown. Bays have brown bodies with black legs, manes, and tails. Brown horses are essentially very dark bays.

The Thoroughbred is a breed developed primarily for racing. But horses of this breed are incredibly athletic, so they tend to succeed in many different equestrian disciplines, including show jumping, eventing, dressage, fox hunting, and more.

4. Little Brown Skink

• Latin name: Scincella lateralis
• Habitat: Can be found across much of the eastern half of the United States and parts of northern Mexico, especially in forested areas
• Size: About 3″-5.5″ long
• Diet: Mostly small insects, spiders, and similar animals
• Colorful feature: This cute little lizard has a body that is mostly medium brown. But its somewhat flat back is a beautiful, metallic copper.

These beautiful skinks have quite a large range. But they can be a little harder to spot than other skink species. They rarely climb trees, preferring to wriggle through the leaf litter of their forest habitats.

5. Brown Cuckoo-Dove

• Latin name: Macropygia phasianella
• Habitat: Can be found across rainforests, woodlands, and scrublands in parts of Australia
• Size: About 16″-17″ long
• Diet: Various types of berries
• Colorful feature: The coloration of this striking dove can best be described as a rich reddish brown. There are a few different subspecies, and some individual doves are a bit darker in color. Males have just a touch of green and rosy pink on the neck.

The name of this bird can cause some confusion. It is sometimes called the “brown pigeon” or the “pheasant pigeon.” However, brown doves and pheasant pigeons are actually completely separate species.

6. Bactrian Camel

• Latin name: Camelus bactrianus
• Habitat: Can be found across the steppe region of Central Asia
• Size: About 5.2′-5.9′ high at shoulder; total height between 7.5′-8.2′
• Diet: Almost any kind of vegetation, though they can eat carrion, sandals, rope, or tents in times of food scarcity
• Colorful feature: This massive camel’s shaggy coat can range from reddish brown to dark brown.

The Bactrian camel is exceptionally sturdy and rugged. It can survive both incredibly cold and incredibly hot temperatures: it tolerates cold up to -22 degrees Fahrenheit and heat up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. It can go for months on end without water. However, when it does find a water source, it can drink nearly 60 liters at once!

7. European Pond Terrapin

• Latin name: Emys orbicularis
• Habitat: Can be found in wetlands across much of Europe and parts of western Asia
• Size: Carapace about 4.7″-15″ long
• Diet: Various types of plants and small animals
• Colorful feature: The carapace of this turtle is a beautiful, uniform brown. But if you look closely at the body, you’ll see that its dark brown skin is covered in little dots of yellow!

This hardy and long-living turtle was once commonly kept as a pet. It’s still possible to own one, but pet ownership is restricted by laws to protect the turtles. Possessing a wild-caught turtle is illegal, and captive-bred individuals must be registered.

8. Common Buckeye Butterfly

• Latin name: Junonia coenia
• Habitat: Can be found across much of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, as well as in Mexico
• Size: Wingspan about 2″-2.5″
• Diet: Nectar from different types of flowers
• Colorful feature: These butterflies have a lovely brown base color. Their wings are marked with vivid orange bars, blue eyespots, and a few cream-colored markings.

Though it’s common, this butterfly species has a truly mesmerizing pattern on its wings. Even when its wings are closed, you can still see eyespots and some orange barring. There’s some color variation between individuals, but the basic pattern remains the same.

9. Little Bunting

• Latin name: Emberiza pusilla
• Habitat: Can be found in the taiga across much of the Palearctic realm
• Size: About 4.7″-5.5″ long
• Diet: Mostly seeds, though it eats insects when feeding chicks
• Colorful feature: The little bunting has remarkably pretty patterning. As you can see in the picture, it has streaks of reddish brown and seal brown over a white to pale tan base color.

This bird’s name comes from the fact that it is one of the smallest bunting species in the world. Its species name, pusilla, is a Latin word that means “very small.” If you aren’t too familiar with different bird species, it might be hard to tell it apart from other small brown birds.

10. Pied Tamarin

• Latin name: Saguinus bicolor
• Habitat: Can be found in rainforests near the Brazilian city of Manaus
• Size: About 13″-16.5″ long
• Diet: Mostly fruit, insects, spiders, flowers, nectar, eggs, and small vertebrates
• Colorful feature: This small, distinctly beautiful monkey has a deep brown lower body. Its upper body is soft white, and its bare face is black or near-black.

This striking monkey has a very small range, and it’s also considered to be critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Habitat destruction, disease, and competition with the golden-handed tamarin all contribute to its continuing population decline.

11. Ground Pangolin

• Latin name: Smutsia temminckii
• Habitat: Savannas and woodlands in parts of Africa
• Size: About 22″-60″ long
• Diet: Ants and termites
• Colorful feature: Ground pangolins are usually a uniform dark brown. Their scales often make them look slightly glossy.

Like other pangolin species, this one is covered with keratin-rich scales that make it look like an artichoke. Much like an armadillo, it uses its scales to protect itself if need be. Since its belly is soft, it can curl up into a ball to protect its belly in case of attack. The scales on its tail are also sharp enough to seriously injure a would-be predator.

12. Mediterranean Gecko

• Latin name: Hemidactylus turcicus
• Habitat: Native to much of the Mediterranean region, though it has been successfully introduced to many areas of the world
• Size: Up to about 6″ long
• Diet: Moths, roaches, and other small insects and spiders
• Colorful feature: Lots of gecko species have incredibly bright colors. This one isn’t nearly as bright as some. But as you can see in the picture, its patterning is still beautiful; it appears marbled with brown and gray or tan.

Much like various rodent species, the Mediterranean house gecko has become a highly successful species in many areas of the world. Its population has grown with the expansion of the human population. Part of that’s because it tends to take shelter in various parts of houses and other human-built structures.

13. White-Crested Laughingthrush

• Latin name: Garrulax leucolophus
• Habitat: Forests and scrubby areas from the Himalayas to Southeast Asia
• Size: About 17″-18″ long
• Diet: Nectar, fruits, seeds, and small animals
• Colorful feature: This striking bird’s red-brown body contrasts beautifully with its white chest and head. The black “mask” across the eyes also makes it especially remarkable.

Thanks to its beauty, the white-crested laughingthrush is a popular pet bird around its native range. Escaped or released birds have also formed colonies that extended its range. This species is sometimes sold in the United States and the United Kingdom, but they don’t seem to have started any wild colonies there.

14. Rusty-Tipped Page

• Latin name: Siproeta epaphus
• Habitat: Can be found in many habitat types from southern North America to central South America
• Size: Wingspan about 2.8″-3″
• Diet: Nectar from a variety of flowers
• Colorful feature: The undersides of this beautiful butterfly’s wings are rich chestnut brown with white barring. When you look at the upper side, you can see where the name comes from: the wings are black with two white streaks, and the tips are rusty brown.

As is the case with many other animals with large ranges, the rusty-tipped page has a few different subspecies. Some of them have minimal or nonexistent rusty tips on the upper wings, but they all have the same rich red-brown underside.

15. Earless Monitor Lizard

• Latin name: Lanthanotus borneensis
• Habitat: Lowlands near marshes and streams on the island of Borneo
• Size: About 16″ long
• Diet: Mostly fish, crustaceans, and earthworms
• Colorful feature: This prehistoric-looking lizard is deep brown to orange-brown in color. As you can see in the photo, its light eyes form a pretty and unexpected contrast with the rest of the body.

The name of this lizard makes it sound as though it cannot hear at all. However, while it has no external ear openings (or any evidence of ears), it is capable of hearing. While it is sometimes found in captivity, its bite is deeper than that of most lizard species!

16. Brown Thrasher

• Latin name: Toxostoma rufum
• Habitat: Can be found across much of the central and eastern United States and southern and central Canada
• Size: About 9.3″-12″ long
• Diet: Mostly berries, nuts, seeds, and insects, though it will also eat smaller frogs, snails, and lizards
• Colorful feature: This pretty bird has warm chestnut-brown upperparts. The belly has an eye-catching pattern: it is soft white to very pale tan, and it’s marked with small, irregular spots or streaks of darker brown. The bird’s eyes are an intense and piercing yellow.

This lovely bird is the state bird of Georgia, though it also inspired the name of a hockey team! At one point, Atlanta had a National Hockey League team called the Atlanta Thrashers.

17. Chocolate Labrador Retriever

• Latin name: Canis lupus familiaris
• Habitat: Domestic
• Size: About 21.5″-24.5″ tall at withers
• Diet: Domestic dog food
• Colorful feature: The chocolate labrador is one of three color varieties of this popular breed. Its coat is deep chocolate or liver color, and its eyes are typically lighter than those of other color varieties.

Labrador retrievers are one of the most popular pet dog breeds. But not everyone knows that there are two separate types of the breed: some dogs are bred for the field (retrieving ducks for hunters) and others are bred for show.

18. Brown Trout

• Latin name: Salmo trutta
• Habitat: Native to waters across much of Europe, though it has also been introduced to other environments around the world
• Size: Up to about 39″ long
• Diet: Various types of invertebrates, fish, frogs, mice, and even birds flying close to the water’s surface
• Colorful feature: This unusual-looking fish has a yellowish-brown base color. Its sides are marked with a smattering of seal-brown spots.

This extremely versatile trout has several different populations. Some live in rivers and lakes and others spend most of their lives in oceans. The fish has been introduced to areas all around the world including Australasia, North America, South America, Asia, and parts of Africa.

19. American Bison

• Latin name: Bison bison
• Habitat: Can be found in several distinct regions in the United States, Mexico, and Canada
• Size: Up to 6’7″ at the withers
• Diet: Different types of grasses and sedges
• Colorful feature: These large and majestic animals are a few different shades of brown. Their base color is dark chocolate brown, while the longer hair around the hump is much lighter. Their heads are black or almost black. Very rarely, a bison is born all white.

The bison is the national mammal of the United States, but in the 1900s, it nearly became extinct thanks to both hunting and slaughter. In 1889, there were only 541 known animals. But by 2019, it was estimated that there were about 31,000 wild bison.

20. Brown-Winged Kingfisher

• Latin name: Pelargopsis amauroptera
• Habitat: Can be found in mangrove forests along the northern and eastern coasts of the Bay of Bengal
• Size: About 13.8″-14.6″ long
• Diet: Mostly crabs and fish
• Colorful feature: Blue and brown are colors that go beautifully together, and you can see this combination on the brown-winged kingfisher! Its chocolate-brown wings frame its bright sky-blue rump. It has a yellow-tan head and a bright red-orange beak.

Like other kingfisher species, this one is an adept hunter. It can dive into the water to catch fish, and it also will swoop down to the mud to snatch up wandering crabs.

21. Southern Flannel Moth

• Latin name: Megalopyge opercularis
• Habitat: Can be found across most of the southeastern United States as well as parts of Mexico and Central America
• Size: Wingspan about 1″-1.5″
• Diet: Caterpillars eat several types of deciduous trees and shrubs
• Colorful feature: You might not think of moths as being fuzzy and cute, but this one certainly is! Adult moths are covered in fuzzy fur that ranges from chestnut brown to bright yellow to burnt orange.

The southern flannel moth might be pretty, but its caterpillar is downright dangerous. It looks like it’s covered in shaggy hair, but these are actually spines that cause an extreme reaction when they contact skin. Victims have described the pain as feeling like a broken bone!

22. Brown Pricklenape

• Latin name: Acanthosaura lepidogaster
• Habitat: Can be found in areas with trees in Laos, China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam
• Size: Up to about 11.4″ long
• Diet: Mostly insects, though they will sometimes eat fish
• Colorful feature: This pretty and unusual lizard has a body that is a unique blend of tan and green. Its back is marked with splotches of very dark brown.

As you may have gathered from the picture, this lizard’s name comes from the fact that it has a row of small, prickly spines along the nape of its neck. Along with other members of its genus, it can commonly be found in the pet trade.

23. Brown Booby

• Latin name: Sula leucogaster
• Habitat: Can be found near oceans in tropical areas across the world
• Size: Up to about 31″ long
• Diet: Mostly smaller fish, shrimp, and squid
• Colorful feature: Males and females of this species have seal brown to black upperparts and white chests. They have an interesting difference, though: males have blue skin around the eye, while females have yellow skin.

The brown booby makes an exciting sight for birdwatchers! While it is somewhat clumsy when taking off, it dives into the ocean at incredibly high speeds to catch fish. They also will sometimes steal the catches of other seabirds.

24. Scaly-Breasted Munia

• Latin name: Lonchura punctulata
• Habitat: Can be found in areas close to water and grasslands across much of tropical Asia
• Size: About 4.3″-4.7″ long
• Diet: Mostly grass seeds, small berries, and insects
• Colorful feature: This bird has one of the most interesting patterns on the list. Its head and upperparts are deep liver brown. But its belly especially stands out: it has a white base color, and the feathers are outlined in seal brown to form a scale-like pattern.

This small, pretty bird is sometimes found in the pet trade. You might hear it called the nutmeg mannikin or the spice finch. It also is frequently caught for use in Buddhist ceremonies, but the birds are usually turned loose later.

25. Whitetail Deer

• Latin name: Odocoileus virginianus
• Habitat: Can be found across North America, Central America, and parts of South America, though it has been successfully introduced to many parts of the world
• Size: Males about 150-400 lb; females about 88-198 lb
• Diet: Various types of plant matter, though they will sometimes eat birds and mice
• Colorful feature: The exact coloration of the whitetail deer will vary based on the subspecies. However, most are soft grayish brown. Some are closer to reddish brown.

The whitetail deer has a much wider range than most people realize. However, since its range is so extensive, it is divided into 26 different subspecies!

26. Spiny-Tailed Skink

• Latin name: Egernia stokesii
• Habitat: Can be found in some semi-arid parts of Australia
• Size: About 8″-9.8″ long
• Diet: Mostly plant material and various types of arthropods
• Colorful feature: The color of this unusual lizard is somewhat variable. It’s sometimes dark brown with splotches of lighter brown like the lizard in the picture. Some individuals are a paler brown that’s closer to tan.

This skink is somewhat unusual in that it tends to form large groups, much like birds form flocks and mammals form herds or packs. The IUCN considers the species as a whole to be of least concern, but one of the three subspecies is considered to be endangered.

27. Clay-Colored Thrush

• Latin name: Turdus grayi
• Habitat: Can be found across several habitat types from southern Texas to northern Colombia
• Size: About 9.1″-10.6″ long
• Diet: Primarily fruit and different invertebrates
• Colorful feature: True to its name, this bird is roughly the color of the clay. Its upperparts are typically darker than the underparts. Interestingly enough, birds living in humid habitats are usually darker than those in dry areas.

Often, the national birds of tropical countries are bright and distinctive. However, Costa Rica chose the clay-colored thrush as its national bird. It was chosen for its especially beautiful song that often signals the start of the rainy season.

28. Praying Mantis

• Latin name: Mantodea order
• Habitat: Exact range and habitat depends on species
• Size: About 1″-4″ long; females are typically larger than males
• Diet: Various types of arthropods
• Colorful feature: Praying mantises come in a variety of colors. However, most colors help these creatures camouflage in their natural habitats. As a result, many are green or a shade of brown similar to dead leaves.

The term “praying mantis” covers more than 2,400 species of insects! And thanks to their size and highly unusual appearance, they are one of the relatively few insect species kept as pets.

29. Kodiak Bear

• Latin name: Ursus arctos middendorffi
• Habitat: Can be found across Alaska’s Kodiak Archipelago
• Size: Usually between 660 and 1320 lb
• Diet: Salmon, fruit, seaweed, other types of vegetation, and occasionally larger animals like deer and mountain goats
• Colorful feature: This majestic bear’s coat is generally medium brown, though some bears (like the one pictured) have regions of darker brown. In some cases, the coat has a somewhat grizzled appearance.

The Kodiak bear is a subspecies of the brown bear. It’s also the second-largest type of bear in the world, with the polar bear being the largest. Although brown bears in general have a fearsome reputation, they usually will avoid encounters with people wherever possible. Fatal human/bear encounters are rare, but it’s estimated that a Kodiak bear injures a person about once every other year.

30. Pondichéry Fan-Throated Lizard

• Latin name: Sitana ponticeriana
• Habitat: Can be found across India’s eastern peninsula
• Size: Up to about 8″ long
• Diet: Mostly insects, though they will also eat plant matter
• Colorful feature: Like many related lizards, this one has complex brown patterning that allows it to camouflage. Most individuals have a base color of medium brown with a few lengthwise stripes of white or off-white.

This lizard is typically a relatively nondescript brown. However, when attracting females, males have an extremely bright gular appendage (extended throat) that is black, red, and blue. The coloring is bright enough that females can see it from far away.

31. Masked Lapwing

• Latin name: Vanellus miles
• Habitat: Can be found on beaches, coastlines, and wetlands in parts of Australia
• Size: About 12″-15″ long
• Diet: Mostly worms and insects
• Colorful feature: This uniquely-colored bird is certainly memorable! Its wings and back are grayish taupe, and it has a white face and belly. It also has a black cap and a bright yellow face and beak.

The masked lapwing has a highly unique feature you don’t often see on most species of birds. Each wing has a bright yellow “spur” at the joint. The spurs can be hard to see when the wings are folded, but when the bird is in flight, you can see them clearly! Thanks to this feature, you might sometimes hear it called the spur-winged plover.

32. Roman Snail

• Latin name: Helix pomatia
• Habitat: Can be found in various habitat types across almost all of Europe
• Size: Shell is about 1.2″-2″ wide
• Diet: Various types of plants and fungi
• Colorful feature: The shells of Roman snails often have subtle yet pretty patterning. Some shells are cream-colored and others are light brown. Most have swirled colors that form irregular patterns.

This large snail is sometimes called an escargot, as it is the species typically used for food. Historically, it was enjoyed by Romans and Greeks, but it is now most commonly found in French cuisine. Since these snails are quite challenging to breed and raise in captivity, they are rarely commercially farmed.

33. Brown Hyena

• Latin name: Parahyaena brunnea
• Habitat: Can be found in deserts, semi-deserts, and savannas in parts of southern Africa
• Size: About 28″-31″ tall at shoulder
• Diet: Mostly scavenged carcasses, but they also will eat fruit, fungi, rodents, and insects
• Colorful feature: The brown hyena’s richly-colored coat is especially noticeable because of its length; other hyena species have shorter coats. This species has a dark brown body with legs striped in brown and white.

This odd-looking animal is also called a strandwolf, and it’s the rarest species of hyena in the world. Unfortunately, the IUCN classifies it as being near threatened. Much of its population decline is due to it being killed by farmers who believe it is a threat to livestock. However, while brown hyenas will feed on the carcasses of dead farm animals, they will not kill livestock.

34. Northern Leopard Frog

• Latin name: Lithobates pipiens
• Habitat: Can be found near water in the United States and some parts of Canada
• Size: About 4.3″ long
• Diet: Various types of insects, though they will also eat smaller frogs and occasionally birds, small snakes, and even bats
• Colorful feature: This pretty frog comes in a few different color morphs. The most common are the green and the brown morphs. Green frogs are leafy green with irregular brown spots. The brown morphs have the same spots, but they have a base color that’s slightly lighter brown.

The leopard frog is probably one of the most easily recognizable frogs in North America. It can be found relatively easily, as it tends to stay in lawns and other grassy areas in the summer months. This frog also shows some promise in the medical world. It produces some compounds called ribonucleases that may be able to treat certain forms of cancer.

35. Brown Discus

• Latin name: Symphysodon aequifasciatus
• Habitat: Can be found in rivers in parts of the Amazon basin
• Size: Up to about 6″ long
• Diet: Small aquatic animals and some types of plant matter
• Colorful feature: Though its name makes it sound plain, the brown discus is actually quite colorful! It has an orangish or yellowish brown base color with darker brown stripes. Its fins are electric blue with patterns of orange lines.

Like other species of discus, the brown discus is a common aquarium pet. Discus fish have been bred to exhibit a range of different colors. Many discus hobbyists are quite serious about their fish and even take them to public fish shows.

36. Abyssinian Cat

• Latin name: Felis catus
• Habitat: Domestic
• Size: About 8-12 lb
• Diet: Domestic cat food
• Colorful feature: Though these cats have a coat that’s cinnamon brown, their fur is actually much more complex when looked at closely. It exhibits an agouti pattern, meaning each hair is a few different shades of brown or black. As a result, the cat’s fur has a “ticked” appearance.

Based on the name, you might think this cat comes from Ethiopia (formerly called Abyssinia). However, the name comes from the fact that the first Abyssinians to be shown in England came from Ethiopia. The breed most likely came from coastal areas of Southeast Asia and was brought to the rest of the world by merchants and other travelers.

37. Golden Eagle

• Latin name: Aquila chrysaetos
• Habitat: Can be found across much of the Northern Hemisphere
• Size: Wingspan about 6′-7′
• Diet: Mostly rabbits, hares, marmots, and similar animals
• Colorful feature: Despite the name, the golden eagle is most accurately described as brown. Much of its body is darker brown, while the feathers on the head and neck are closer to being reddish or golden brown. Its eyes are a beautifully intense amber.

This majestic creature is one of the most widespread eagle species in the world. It’s also an incredibly skilled hunter, so it’s one of the most commonly-kept birds among falconers.

38. Robust Tufted Capuchin

• Latin name: Sapajus robustus
• Habitat: Can be found in forests in parts of Brazil
• Size: About 29″-41″ long
• Diet: Mostly fruits, seeds, small animals, and arthropods
• Colorful feature: This monkey is a silky, dark brown in color. Its arms, legs, and head are black, and it has a tall crown or tuft of black hair.

As its name suggests, this monkey is a lot more rugged-looking than most capuchin species. Unfortunately, its population is in decline. The IUCN first listed it as vulnerable in 1995. By 2008, it was considered to be endangered. Both hunting and habitat destruction have negatively affected its numbers, and its range is also relatively small.

39. American Toad

• Latin name: Anaxyrus americanus
• Habitat: Can be found across much of Canada and the eastern United States
• Size: About 2″-4″ long
• Diet: Various small invertebrates including crickets, worms, ants, slugs, and moths
• Colorful feature: This common toad’s body ranges from reddish brown to grayish brown, and it’s marked by raised, dark brown bumps. The color and pattern help the toad to camouflage, especially in leaf litter.

This toad can be divided into three separate subspecies: the eastern American toad, the dwarf American toad, and the comparatively rare Hudson Bay toad. Thanks to its thriving population and large range, it is not considered to be at any risk for extinction.

40. Okapi

• Latin name: Okapia johnstoni
• Habitat: Can be found in forests in parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Size: About 5′ tall at the shoulder
• Diet: Mostly leaves, buds, fruit, grasses, and fungi
• Colorful feature: This beautiful animal has eye-catching, high-contrast coloring. Its coat is glossy chocolate brown, and it has white zebra-like stripes on the legs.

The okapi is one of the stranger animals on the list. It is sometimes called the zebra giraffe thanks to its resemblance to both animals. However, it is much more closely related to the giraffe than the zebra. It is often hunted for its beautiful skin and for bushmeat, leading to its being classified as an endangered species.

41. Song Sparrow

• Latin name: Melospiza melodia
• Habitat: Can be found in most habitat types (especially marshy and brushy areas) in most of Canada and the United States
• Size: About 4.3″-7.1″ long
• Diet: Mostly seeds and insects, though marsh birds eat small crustaceans as well
• Colorful feature: When you look closely, you’ll see that these pretty birds actually have somewhat intricate patterning. Their upper bodies are soft reddish brown, and their paler bellies are marked with irregular dark brown streaks.

This bird is the one most people picture when they imagine a sparrow. It’s able to live almost anywhere and frequently lives near people. As you may have gathered from the name, it sings a number of fairly complex songs.

42. Goliath Birdeater

• Latin name: Theraphosa blondi
• Habitat: Can be found in rainforests in northern South America
• Size: Leg span up to 12″
• Diet: Mostly insects and smaller vertebrates; it rarely eats birds
• Colorful feature: This giant spider is a shade of rich brown. Some individuals are more of a reddish chestnut brown, while others are a darker medium brown.

You might be surprised to hear that this spider is actually edible! It’s often eaten in South America; the hairs are singed off and it is roasted in banana leaves. People who have tried it often say that it tastes like shrimp. It’s also the largest spider in the world by mass.

Brown Creatures From Around the World

Maybe you recognize some of the brown animals on this list. But you’ve hopefully discovered some new ones, too. Wherever you are in the world, keep your eye out for some of these amazing creatures!

Explore beautiful creatures of all colors and types in this list of colorful animals.