The 50 Best Birds in Magic Ranked

Last updated on August 19, 2025

Storm Crow | Illustration by Jesper Ejsing

With the release of Bloomburrow and dozens of bird cards, birds returned to Standard and made a breakthrough in other formats like Pioneer. Every MTG set has a bird or two, so it’s always an excellent time to rank all of Magic's best birds and their playability across Magic formats.

Plus, I’ve heard that many MTG players have an issue or two with my #1, so there’s that….

Stay with me, and let’s take to the skies!

What Are Birds in MTG?

Ledger Shredder | Illustration by Mila Pesic

Birds are MTG cards that have the bird creature type. Birds are very common in MTG design, and encompass many species of birds from the flightless to the domestic and nocturnal to the ancient. There are also sets like Onslaught and Bloomburrow, which put more emphasis on the bird creature type. Birds are usually flying creatures and are mostly white or blue, with many good birds also being Azorius () with the occasional red, green, and black bird. 

Honorable Mentions: Storm Crow and 1-Drops

Let’s start with two overperforming 1-drops, Healer's Hawk and Sazh's Chocobo. These are amazing in their decks and the sky's the limit on their value over the course of a game.

Now let's talk about the best one, the Hors Concours best bird out there. And that’s Storm Crow. How could it not be the best bird? With that out of the way, let the other birds compete.

#50. Warden of Evos Isle

The Warden of Evos Isle is a must for so many bird decks. It's not too flashy, but does tons of work as a cost reducer for most cards on this list and then some.

#49. Swans of Bryn Argoll

Swans of Bryn Argoll was a strong combo piece in formats like Standard and Extended for a very long time. You’d use your spells and abilities to deal direct damage to this bird spirit, draw that many cards, and do it again. Cards like Seismic Assault allow you to turn any land into two cards, and you can go infinite with cards like Niv-Mizzet, Parun.

#48. Mavinda, Students’ Advocate

Mavinda, Students' Advocate is a very interesting card to play in decks that want to target their own stuff, like heroic decks or Feather, the Redeemed decks. With Mavinda in play, your instants and sorceries that target have a free flashback cost, and that can be used to blink, to cast powerful combat tricks, or to cantrip with a card like Defiant Strike. It also works well with prowess.

#47. Junk Diver

Junk Diver can be used in a lot of combos involving artifact sacrifice since you get some recursion if it dies. Don’t mind the weak body: This colorless card is here just for the combos. You can return it from the graveyard for free with Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle, and then sacrifice it to get another artifact back, which then triggers Teshar again, and so on.

#46. Jhoira’s Familiar

Making all historic spells cost 1 less is very good, which will make you forget that you’re paying 4 mana on a 2/2 flier. The cost reduction Jhoira's Familiar provides is good with legends, artifacts, sagas, and makes several loop combos viable like Mystic Forge + Sensei's Divining Top.

#45. Thrummingbird

Thrummingbird is the classic proliferate bird. It’s good in any deck that has to do with counters, usually +1/+1 counters, poison counters, or loyalty counters on planeswalkers.

#44. Aven Courier

Aven Courier needs a certain board state for it to be good, otherwise it’s just a 1/1 flier. Its rules text looks similar to proliferate, but it’s very different from that. It’s good with mechanic counters like flying counters, trample counters, or shield counters, so you can spread them around or even grow the Aven itself.

#43. Kangee, Aerie Keeper

Kangee, Aerie Keeper’s value hangs on how many feather counters it has, and thus how strong other fliers are beside it. The bad news is, you have to pay at least 7 mana for it to give +1/+1 to other birds, and this Azorius commander gets worse with commander tax, so I’d add it to the 99 of a deck filled with birds instead.

#42. Wingmate Roc

Wingmate Roc is a titan of MTG’s past, usually netting two 3/4 fliers for 5 mana. The lifegain you get while attacking can be beneficial, and a Wingmate token is a good populate target.

#41. Kangee, Sky Warden

Kangee, Sky Warden makes combat a nightmare for your opponents, attacking as a 5/3 and defending as a 3/5. It extends this bonus to all your fliers, turning even the smallest 1/1 Bird tokens into sizeable threats.

#40. Skyboon Evangelist

Skyboon Evangelist spreads +1/+1 counters around like a boss, and the recipients can get flying when they attack. You’ll usually jump 3-4 creatures for a 5-mana investment, and it gets better if you have tokens or ways to blink the Evangelist.

#39. Aerial Extortionist

Aerial Extortionist is a clever riff on Fiend Hunter. You exile an opponent’s card, and they get to cast it again, but you'll draw a card if they do. You can also draw many cards if you’re facing a red player who gets card advantage via impulse draw.

#38. Nesting Dovehawk

Nesting Dovehawk asks you to play many tokens, so it’s not a free inclusion in every deck. Once you’re playing tokens, this white creature spirals out of control, especially with cards like Call the Cavalry or Release the Dogs. It also works with decks that make a single big token thanks to the free proliferate effect.

#37. Skyway Robber

Skyway Robber is a crazy strong bird rogue; the only caveat is that you absolutely want to mill it or loot it away, as this blue creature becomes much more powerful when escaped from your graveyard. It’s unfortunate that its main Phantom Monster body doesn’t make the cut these days.

#36. Akim, the Soaring Wind

Akim, the Soaring Wind gives you a nice incentive to play with tokens and token generators, giving you a 1/1 flying bird each time you make a token. No matter which token you create, you’re “populating” into a 1/1 bird, and that neatly fits bird typal strategies.

#35. Curiosity Crafter

Curiosity Crafter is a very strong addition to decks that end up creating flying tokens like Kykar, Wind's Fury and Akim, the Soaring Wind. The unlimited hand size clause is also very relevant since you’re drawing a bunch of cards.

#34. Jackdaw Savior

The key for me on ranking Jackdaw Savior is that it counts when any of your other fliers dies. As long as you have a few eligible cards in your graveyard, this is a great reanimation ability.

#33. Kykar, Zephyr Awakener

A prowess trigger nets you a flicker or a flier with Foundations‘ Kykar, Zephyr Awakener and the option is solid.

#32. Soaring Lightbringer

Where Soaring Lightbringer shines the most is granting flight to your enchantment creatures. The attacking glimmer is also a good perk from this bird. If you wonder which enchantment creatures to worry about, remember that Purphoros, God of the Forge, Nyxbloom Ancient and Enduring Tenacity are out there just to name a few outside of white.

#31. Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker

Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker starts very small as a 1/1 and can become a giant flying threat as the game goes on. What are they going to do, not cast spells? An upside is a colored partner commander. The downside is spending 4 mana on a small body and having it removed from the battlefield.

#30. Breena, the Demagogue

Breena, the Demagogue is very fun as a political card that wants to profit from other players warring amongst themselves. Naturally, they’ll want to attack you, but that’s where you take a “shields up” approach with removal and cards like Ghostly Prison. Plus, black and white have several creatures that incentivize you to spread the +1/+1 counters like Abzan Falconer and Emperor of Bones.

#29. Moira and Teshar

Moira and Teshar is a slightly more expensive and bigger Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle that can get any kind of nonland permanent from your graveyard straight to the battlefield. It only lasts until the end of the turn, but in most cases that doesn’t matter too much.

#28. Falco Spara, Pactweaver

Turning your creatures' +1/+1 counters into card advantage is what Falco Spara, Pactweaver does best, letting you play cards from the top of your library. It’s a management issue whether you want stronger creatures on the battlefield or more cards to play with, and you can even get rid of -1/-1 counters if that’s the case. Or reset adapt creatures to adapt it again. There's lots of cool stuff that can be done with Falco Spara, Pactweaver, and Bant () is the perfect color identity to take advantage of +1/+1 counters and proliferate.

#27. Shabraz, the Skyshark

With Shabraz, the Skyshark around, you’re being rewarded for drawing cards, and blue and white decks are always in the market for that – well, most decks, actually. This shark bird can grow very quickly in cycling-focused decks, and you can also run lifegain matter cards. You'll rarely see it in action without its trusted partner Brallin, Skyshark Rider.

#26. Souvenir Snatcher

Souvenir Snatcher joins the ranks of Dirge Bat, Gemrazer, and many other mutate creatures with a powerful effect when you mutate them. You often want many creatures that mutate in the same deck to maximize the synergies, so Souvenir Snatcher doesn’t go in just any deck. Still, it’s one of the better mutate cards. Mutating this bird also turns a smaller creature into a 4/4 flier while stealing an artifact from someone else.

#25. Nimble Obstructionist

Nimble Obstructionist is a very interesting bird as a mixture of a 3/1 flash flying and a cantripping Stifle. It’s good on offense, and it also fits decks that want to play spells on your opponents’ turns.

#24. Mockingbird

Clones and Clone variants always seem to find their way into decks. With Mockingbird you get the upside of a flying clone, and its wording means you're always spending a net-even amount of mana compared to the creature you copy.

#23. Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector

Assassin's Creed’s Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector has a reverse ninjutsu ability that’s very weird but in truth quite strong. You gain 2 life and scry 2 when you exile Senu, and when you hit with a legendary, probably your commander, you get to put Senu back into play attacking. You’re not spending any mana on Senu's activated ability, and all of this stuff isn’t bad on a 2-mana body.

#22. Owlbear Cub

It only works in the mid-to-late game portion of the game, but it’s very powerful to attack with Owlbear Cub and put a creature from the top eight cards of your library on the battlefield, for free.

Plus, the art of this card is really something else, being a mixture of cute but mean and evil-looking. The downside is that its first attack may very well be this adorable green creature‘s last – this is one of the few birds in Magic that can't fly – but it’s a fair and good trade for you.

#21. Salvation Swan

It’s impossible to look at Salvation Swan and not think of Restoration Angel, a card that’s been a Constructed staple for so long. It’s interesting because it only works with a non-flying creature, and the difference between 3/3 and 3/4 for ambushes is real. But there are some advantages too, as the creature you blink returns as a flier. Plus, the blink triggered ability happens anytime a bird enters, and that raises its potential considerably.

#20. Pyreswipe Hawk

Pyreswipe Hawk is strange but powerful. You want to have artifacts with a high mana value, which make this Hawk hits like a truck. Not only that, but by expending 6 mana on spells you’ll also steal an artifact from someone. The hawk works very well with Tinker effects that cheat big artifacts into play as well as Fling effects.

#19. Vega, the Watcher

Vega, the Watcher gets better the more ways you have to cast spells from exile, and with mechanics like foretell and plot and the revival of suspend in Commander, it’s becoming easier than ever. Plot and foretell spells get a lot better when you add the “draw a card” rider, and so does your deck and winrate.

#18. Balmor, Battlemage Captain

Balmor, Battlemage Captain sees a lot of play in spellslinger decks filled with prowess creatures. It’s a key card in Izzet () Wizards decks, and with Balmor around, it’s fairly easy to mass-pump your whole team for the win.

#17. Maha, Its Feathers Night

One of the best cards from Bloomburrow, Maha, Its Feathers Night can be a very oppressive legend to build a deck around. It’s hard to deal with and it’s a massive flying and trample creature, but when you can take advantage of the 1-toughness aspect it becomes the real deal. Look for cards like Kaervek, the Spiteful to ensure your opponents can’t land creatures of any kind.

#16. Aven Interrupter

Aven Interrupter is a tempo play very similar to cards like Remand, where you foil your opponent’s plans for that turn only. It is about as close to a white counterspell as the color gets. Sometimes that’s what you need in aggressive decks, at least for 1v1 games. In big multiplayer EDH games, the most value you’ll have from this card is to stop a combo or a big wrath, as well as to annoy players casting cards from exile, especially red players with their impulse draw.

#15. Aven Mindcensor

Aven Mindcensor is a classic way to foil your opponent’s tutor abilities. When they fetch a land or fire a creature tutor, suddenly you play this bird and they can only look at the top four, often failing to find something relevant.

#14. Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest

Every MTG set has to have a dragon, right? Well in Bloomburrow, they’ve averted that by having a dragon bird!

At least with Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest you’re getting a 5/5, at least one card you can play until your next end step, and 2 damage to each opponent if you don’t. And you can keep on exiling those cards every turn to continue dealing more damage.

#13. Gilded Goose

Gilded Goose is like a one-shot Birds of Paradise, but in the late game you can make a food token every turn, and it’s good against aggressive decks while turning on your lifegain synergies. If you want to play more than one Birds of Paradise in EDH, look no further.

#12. Zinnia, Valley's Voice

Zinnia, Valley's Voice, the bird commander that leads the Bloomburrow‘s Family Matters Commander precon, is a very interesting Jeskai commander who thrives on 1/X tokens. Not only that, but all your creatures now have offspring.

Casting a Mulldrifter for 7 mana via the offspring mechanic means that you get an extra 1/1 and two cards, as a tame example. It gets way better with all the staples like Anointed Procession, which lets you create twice that many tokens. If you think annoying cards like Dockside Extortionist were strong, wait until you can pay 2 mana more to get another copy.

#11. Yorion, Sky Nomad

Yorion, Sky Nomad is great as a giant flier that blinks all your stuff, and it’s great as a companion, too. It’s been impactful in many formats, to the point that playing 20 more cards in your deck just to get the companion mechanic going seems like a good idea (sorry Commander players, you can’t have a 120 card-deck). This card's consistency got it banned in Modern.

#10. Slickshot Show-Off

Outlaws of Thunder Junction‘s Slickshot Show-Off is very explosive as a sort-of Kiln Fiend that flies and has haste. It’s a great red card in Standard and Pioneer, and the plot ability can lead to a very explosive turn, often one-shotting opponents. 

#9. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician

Derevi, Empyrial Tactician lets players ignore commander tax simply by putting it into play by paying 4 mana. One of the most powerful synergies you can have with this excellent Bant card is to sacrifice it to an effect like Birthing Pod, getting a 4-drop into play and then putting Derevi into play from the command zone, so it ETBs and untaps the Birthing Pod, allowing you to do it again. You can repeat this cycle as long as you have enough mana, and it also works well with mana dorks like Bloom Tender that can generate a lot of mana in a single activation.

Unsurprisingly, that makes Derevi, Empyrial Tactician a very good pod commander. It's also a capable stax commander, in case you want your birds to fly that way.

#8. Kastral, the Windcrested

Kastral, the Windcrested is how WotC does straightforward commanders these days. Hit a player with a creature of a certain type, get a card here and there, good stuff. There’s nothing wrong with the formula, and these designs are powerful. Kastral, the Windcrested does a little more than that, allowing you to buff your birds or cheat one into play from your hand or graveyard. 

#7. Kykar, Wind’s Fury

Kykar, Wind's Fury is Young Pyromancer on steroids. It’s one of the most popular Jeskai commanders (), and you can do so much with it, from getting an army of flying tokens and attacking for the win to sacrificing the spirits at will to generate more mana and storm. The tokens Kykar produces are a good Polymorph targets, too, so you can cheat big creatures from your library into play.

#6. Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle

Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle is one of the better recursion enablers out there, and there are quite a few infinite combos you can pull off with this bird cleric. Casting historic spells is fairly easy since any cheerio or 1-mana artifact does the trick, and you get up to a 3-drop back. This historic commander sees heavy play in many competitive formats, including cEDH.  

#5. Birds of Paradise

Birds of Paradise is one of the most famous mana dorks in MTG right alongside Llanowar Elves, and they both go all the way back to Alpha. It flies and generates mana of any color, which is what you want from a mana dork, especially with 5-color commanders.

#4. Ledger Shredder

Ledger Shredder has been an impactful blue creature in many formats, due to the ability to quickly go through your deck, drawing and discarding while also growing with connive. It attacks and blocks well while setting up many of the graveyard synergies like delve, reanimator, and dredge.

#3. Baleful Strix

Baleful Strix is a solid Dimir () bird. It cantrips so you get your card back, and you can block and trade both in the air and on the ground thanks to deathtouch. With some artifact synergies like Ensoul Artifact, you can go on offense, too.

#2. Traveling Chocobo

The best non-flying bird is a Chocobo serialized in gold. For gameplay, Traveling Chocobo is absolute money. The “Future Sight” ability to play lands or birds off the top of your library is my favorite kind of card advantage, then there are simply so many landfall and bird triggered effects to double up on, things get wild fast from this Final Fantasy headliner.

#1. Nadu, Winged Wisdom

Nadu, Winged Wisdom was the most controversial card to come out of Modern Horizons 3.

Nadu’s sheer power comes from the fact that you can target it with free stuff like equipment that cost 0 to equip and draw a bunch of cards, and you can do this twice per turn for each creature you control. It’s been impactful in every single format it’s legal in. For the record, it is rebalanced for Historic and Brawl to not give the triggered ability to your creatures or creature tokens, and it is banned in Commander and Modern, so the big remaining formats for it are Legacy, Vintage, Timeless and Oathbreaker. It's certainly a design mistake overall.

Best Bird Payoffs

Now that we’ve seen the best individual birds, let’s see how we can take advantage of a bird-typal strategy.

Celestial Gatekeeper, Crookclaw Elder and Aven Brigadier show how WotC used to support typal strategies. The Elder allows you to draw more cards by tapping your birds, while the Gatekeeper brings back two birds when they die. Brigadier gives a truly global anthem and lifts up your opponent's birds and soldiers as well.

Kastral, the Windcrested is a modern take on a bird payoff. The creature is huge and whenever it or another bird deals combat damage to a player, you get to choose between three awesome options. Another interesting option is Gwaihir the Windlord from Lord of the Rings. Out of the Spider-Man set, Spider-Ham, Peter Porker fits your birds in among 18 animal creature types, what a hero!

Kangee, Aerie Keeper, Tawnos, the Toymaker, and Radagast, Wizard of Wilds are also some ways to take advantage of birds. It’s best to be since that’s the best payoff color for birds, but Radagast and Tawnos add something relevant in green.

Bartz and Boko, Hermes, Overseer of Elpis, Murmuration, Soulcatchers' Aerie, and Valley Floodcaller all do their best when you stuff a flock's worth of birds into one deck.

Seaside Haven, Animal Sanctuary, and Airborne Aid are lands that give you a benefit if you’re packing these feathered friends. Lilypad Village, Lupinflower Village, and Three Tree City are also good typal incentives to play birds.

Watcher of the Spheres, Sephara, Sky's Blade, and Empyrean Eagle take the payoffs to the sky, literally. Most birds fly, so these cards are there to support the air squad.

The Bird Is the Word

Birds of Paradise | Illustration by Ovidio Cartagena

And that’s it for birds today, folks!

Birds always see play due to the flying ability being super relevant, and they’re present on many of Magic's planes. WotC needs blue and white creatures to fly, so birds are a perfect choice. Now you know the flappy fellows that are super strong and more than competitive. 

Blue-white continues to rule the skies and be the natural color pair for birds. What do you think about birds in MTG? Let me know in the comments section, or let’s discuss it in our Draftsim Discord. Bye bye!