The blue eggs of an American robin in New Jersey

© Mira/Alam

No egg dye needed for these. Easter

The American robin doesn't go out of its way to hide its coloured eggs, nor does it need watercolour to celebrate Easter! Thanks to a process in the mother's blood, her eggs – which she can lay up to three times each year – are always coloured this lovely shade of blue. There’s even a name for this natural hue, 'robin's egg blue.'

Although it's uncommon to see these blue eggs in your backyard or in the wild (and please don't go hunting for them!), the American robin is ubiquitous throughout North America. Some migrate to Canada and Alaska, but many also remain year-round in the United States and northern Mexico. This orange-breasted beauty is so popular, it's the state bird of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Connecticut.

But the American robin isn’t the only bird that produces coloured eggs. The emu (greenish-blue), great tinamou (turquoise), peregrine falcon (mottled brown), and red-winged blackbird (light blue with black spots) are only some of the other bird species that can produce eggs worthy of an Easter egg hunt!