Feather & Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify feathers by species — with feather type, plumage, colours, size, habitat, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Violet-green Swallow
A small western swallow with iridescent green upperparts, violet-tinged rump and wings, and white extending unusually high onto the face and flanks.
songbird
Vermilion Flycatcher
A small flycatcher in which males show a strikingly brilliant red crown and underparts against dusky brown wings, while females are far more subdued.
songbird
Tropical Screech-Owl
The Tropical Screech-Owl is a small, widespread Neotropical owl with cryptic grey-brown or rufous plumage and small ear tufts that help it blend against tree bark.
owl
Southern White-faced Owl
A small grey African owl with a strikingly white facial disc rimmed in black and small ear tufts, known for dramatic threat and concealment postures.
owl
Sage Thrasher
The smallest and most compact North American thrasher, a streaky gray-brown bird of sagebrush country with a shorter, straighter bill than its relatives.
songbird
Red-legged Kittiwake
A cliff-nesting Bering Sea specialist, smaller and darker-mantled than its more widespread relative, and readily told by its bright red legs and shorter bill.
seabird
Pine Siskin
The Pine Siskin is a small, heavily streaked finch whose brown feathers show flashes of yellow in the wings and tail, and whose winter range shifts unpredictably year to year.
songbird
Philadelphia Vireo
The Philadelphia Vireo is a small, plain-plumaged vireo of northern woodlands, often confused with the Warbling Vireo and Tennessee Warbler due to its subtle coloring.
songbird
Oriental Scops Owl
The Oriental Scops Owl is a small, migratory Asian owl with cryptic bark-patterned plumage occurring in grey and rufous color morphs, and tiny ear tufts.
owl
Hooded Merganser
The Hooded Merganser is a small, richly patterned fish-eating duck whose male displays a spectacular fan-shaped white crest bordered in black.
waterfowl
Hoffmann's Woodpecker
A common Central American woodpecker with a black-and-white barred back and a small patch of yellow on the nape, adaptable to gardens and open plantations.
woodpecker
Hazel Grouse
A small, secretive forest grouse of northern Eurasia, best known for its finely patterned gray-brown plumage and a bold black-and-white throat patch in males.
gamebird
Masked Duck
A small, secretive stiff-tailed duck; breeding males are rich cinnamon densely marked with black spots and a black facial mask, while females are duller brown with striped faces.
waterfowl
Lesser Yellownape
A smaller relative of the Greater Yellownape, sharing its olive-green body and yellow crest but distinguished by its modest size and a small red patch on the male's head.
woodpecker
Least Bittern
One of the smallest herons in the world, an inconspicuous marsh dweller with buffy wing patches that flash as it clambers deftly through dense reeds.
wading bird
Chipping Sparrow
The Chipping Sparrow is a small, neat sparrow recognized in breeding plumage by its bright rufous crown feathers over a clean, unstreaked gray breast.
songbird
European Turtle Dove
A small, warmly colored migratory dove with a tortoiseshell-patterned wing and a neat black-and-white striped neck patch found in no other common European dove.
dove pigeon
Crested Tit
The Crested Tit is a small European woodland bird easily recognized by its pointed, black-and-white speckled crest, a feature unique among the continent's tits.
songbird
Booted Racket-tail
A tiny Andean hummingbird best known for its puffy white leg feathers and, in males, a pair of long bare tail shafts ending in small dark paddle-shaped tips.
hummingbird
Blue-winged Teal
A small, long-distance migrant dabbling duck with a pale blue wing patch shared by both sexes, and males showing a bold white facial crescent on a slate-grey head.
waterfowl
Black-headed Gull
A small, gregarious Old World gull whose chocolate-brown (not black) hood and white leading-edge wing wedge make it easy to pick out from mixed flocks.
seabird
Barnacle Goose
A small, sharply patterned goose with a bold black-and-white face and finely barred silver-gray flanks, breeding on Arctic cliffs and wintering on coastal grassland.
waterfowl
Little Auk
The smallest auk of the North Atlantic, a dumpy, tightly packed little bird with a black-and-white pattern and a stubby bill, breeding in immense colonies in the high Arctic.
seabird
American Kestrel
The smallest and most colorful falcon in North America, a common sight perched on roadside wires, told by its rufous back and tail and, in males, contrasting blue-gray wings.
raptor