Yet another up-to-date animal article! We have talked about the history and variety of LEGO parrots and owls, and now it’s time for the rest of the bird figures. We’ll take a quick look at the bats, mention DUPLO birds, and wrap up.
If you have read the other animal articles, you probably know, but here’s a reminder just in case. Like the others, this article will be updated as new animals are released. The name of the colors used here are the Bricklink colors. To see a better image of the color, please visit this link, search for the color, and click on its name to go to Rylie Howerter’s Flickr page.
Like I mentioned in the parrot article as well as the evolution of animals, the first LEGO bird figure was released with the Fabuland theme. Here’s its image once more, and moving on to the more recent birds.
LEGO Bird Figures in CMF Series and Other Sets
LEGO parrots and owls have dominated the bird world for a long time. We don’t see another species until 2010. That year, two ostriches are released in a Prince of Persia set (7570). They have a black body, light nougat head, neck and legs, with printed white wingtips and tail. I don’t know about you, but I think they look awesome!
2013 is an important year for the LEGO bird figures, because they get to be included in CMFs. Our first bird is a seagull from the CMF 10 series. It appears in 6 more sets after that.
In 2016, a penguin comes with the CMF 16 series. The same penguin, but this time with red eyes, can be found in a LEGO Batman Movie set (70909). There’s another penguin coming with the CMF 26 Space series. Being white with an orange visor, it’s possible to see it as either a robot or an astro-penguin.
An eagle comes in 2018, with the People Pack Outdoor Adventures set (60202). The same mould is used in 2021, this time for a vulture. You can find these birds in only one set each. They haven’t been in another set, nor was the mould used again.
We get our first flamingo in 2019 with the Gardener figure from CMF 19. It is possible to see this as a garden ornament, but seeing it as an animal suits me more :) Besides, there aren’t any details indicating it’s an ornament. It has a dark pink body, a black beak and “leg”.
A small bird is added to the family the same year. I think it’s the smallest LEGO bird yet. In 2019, it appears in four sets in white. Dark azure is added in 2020, red in 2021 and bright light yellow in 2024; appearing in a total of 47 sets. The same mould can be found in 7 more sets, this time unprinted, and again in white, dark azure and red. (The bright light yellow is used both as a chick and a bird, so it’s also included in farm animals).
This small bird comes with the Dungeons & Dragons CMF series too, this time in dark tan. Both its color and crest pattern makes it look like a sparrow.
A toucan is released with the CMF 22 series in 2022, a falcon with the CMF 24 series in 2023. Both of them have unique molds and haven’t appeared anywhere else yet.
A new bird mould shows up in 2023, in Sonic the Hedgehog sets. It has four different colors, dark pink, white, dark azure and black, and appears in 8 sets. The same bird can also be found in Andrea’s Modern Mansion from 2024, this time in lime. Although it hasn’t seen in any other sets yet, it’s possible that this is the new Friends bird.
Our newest bird is the raven coming with the August 2024 Dreamzzz sets. It has a black-trans-dark pink color combination. Although it’s unprinted for now, I have no doubt we’ll see it as a crow or a raven soon enough. At the moment, this raven is found in only 6 sets.
LEGO Friends Bird Figures
A new bird mould appears in 2012 with the Friends sets. It’s possible to see it until 2018 in various colors. The third one in the top row, dark azure colored with a yellow chest, is the only Friends bird with a parrot-specific color and print. You can find it in parrots as well.
In 2018 the mould is changed, the separated feet are joined. To be honest, I never noticed this change. I saw it when I was researching for this article, and I was angry with myself for not knowing about it for so long. Oh well, better late than never, right?
These birds are last seen in 2021. You can see the difference between the two below.
A Friends penguin is released in 2014. You can find it in three sets. The same mould is used in the Chinese New Year set of 2022 (80109), this time with a trans-light blue – satin trans-light blue color combination.
Flamingos start to show up in 2020. Nine different colors are released in 2020 and 2021. With one exception, all of them are from the popular play cubes released those years. The colors used are yellow, yellowish green, coral, lavender, medium lavender, bright light orange, dark turquoise and dark pink. They all have light nougat legs. The only difference of these two groups is their beak print. Top ones are printed in gold, bottom ones in metallic pink.
The one that doesn’t appear in the play cubes has a dark pink body and bright light orange legs, with a black beak print. These flamingos are smaller than their System siblings.
LEGO Bat Figures
Bats are too few in number to have their own article. Or rather, the first bat released in 1997 is still being used in sets today. That’s why I decided to include them here.
There are four different colors: Dark gray, dark bluish gray, tan and black. The first three appear in a few sets, meanwhile the black comes in 112 of them.
Apart from the classic bat, there are a few more bats Bricklink doesn’t list as animals. They are listed as minifigures, released under the Elves theme, have a few differences in color and print, and all have unique names. These are from 2018, coming with one or two sets each.
Their ear and wing colors aren’t listed on Bricklink, but the ones on top are trans-neon orange, trans-bright green, trans-purple and trans-dark pink. The first one at the bottom has a bright light yellow body, trans-bright green wings. The remaining two look like trans-neon yellow, but I can’t say for sure since I don’t have them.
We also have a guest of honor, a half-bat, if you will. Balthazar from The LEGO Movie 2 is made by joining a mini-doll head with a bat body. The body part is in dark blue, and haven’t appeared in another set yet, but if it does, it’s perfect for creating a vampire bat army! Of course, you’ll need to use either a mini-doll head or a baby head. You know you can put a baby head on a mini-doll body, right? Try it, you’ll never sleep again :))))
LEGO DUPLO Bird Figures
The oldest LEGO DUPLO bird is a penguin, released in 1995. In 2006, the mould is renewed, a light orange color is added to the chest feathers print. The same mould is released in 2013 again, with a different eye and chest print, and so far, it’s the most recent adult penguin. The one arriving in 2022 looks like a chick, judging by its proportions. The first penguin appears in 11 sets, the second in 14, the third in 4 and the chick in only one.
An ostrich comes into our lives in 2012. Shows up in two sets and disappears. The second one appears in 2016, and apparently reflects a certain character. Both have different colors as well as different moulds. The first one has the colors of a standard ostrich, with light nougat head, neck and legs, black body with white wingtips. The second has tan head, neck and legs, dark brown (I think) body and dark azure wings and tail. Its beak is orange, printed.
A new bird mould arrives in 2017, no species specified. Released in yellow and bright light blue that year, white joins in 2018, red, bright light yellow and dark azure in 2022. You can find these birds in 20 sets in total.
In 2019, two toucans join the family. Sharing the same mould, one is black and the other is dark purple. The black one is found in two, the dark purple one in three sets.
There are no DUPLO bats yet.
Comparison images? Why, of course!
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Taking flight for another article…
These are all the LEGO bird figures there are. Their shapes make it hard to use the same mould for different species. And making new moulds is probably not very cheap. Still, I think there’s a satisfying range of them.
See you in the next article!
PS: You can find chickens and ducks in the farm animals article.
I went to Brickset, Bricklink, Brickowl, Rebrickable, New Elemenatry, Jay’s Brick Blog, Heartlake Times, Hoth Bricks, Austrian Brick Fan, Atlbrick, Steinpalast, Decotoys, Baustein Jager and eBay for the images of birds I don’t have. Otherwise, how would I publish so many? :)
Some girls play with Barbie dolls, while others create small worlds with LEGO minifigures and continue to do so when they grow up. You can probably guess which group I belong to :)
