10 Most Beautiful Birds

Laura at Birder Blog tagged me with this meme, which was started by John at A DC Birding Blog. Here are the rules: Post a list of the 10 birds you consider most beautiful on your blog; you may limit the list to the ABA area (continental United States and Canada) or use a geographic area of your choice. Mark birds you have seen with an asterisk.

So, here goes...proving that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, here's my ABA list:

1. California Condor* (lifer 8/85--large, and rare, with whistling wings--awesome!)
2. Whooping Crane* (lifer 4/95--large, white, piercing eye)
3. Snowy Owl* (lifer 1983--white, alien-looking)
4. Greater Sage Grouse* (lifer 3/94--awesome when booming)
5. Great Gray Owl* (lifer 6/95--stunningly fierce eyes)
6. Long-billed Curlew* (lifer 1984--what a beak!)
7. Siberian Accentor* (lifer 1997--rare, dreamy subtle beauty)
8. Greater Flamingo* (lifer 1999--other-worldly-pink, with a wild bent snoz)
9. Bachman's Warbler (thought I saw one once, but of course, they are extinct...)
10. Ivory-billed Woodpecker (if not extinct, perhaps the most beautiful of all...)

Does this betray any kind of prejudice for the large, rare, and unusual? If so, what does that tell you about a birdchaser's psyche?

Most folks I know have been tagged, but I'd like to see a list from Julie Zickefoose and Jeff Gyr, and just for kicks from my less-bird-oriented-but-very-aesthetic-in-law Chef Messy.