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.
Red-backed Shrike
A small Eurasian shrike with strongly different male and female plumages, the male showing a gray head, chestnut back, and black bandit mask.
songbird
Rufous-legged Owl
The Rufous-legged Owl is a temperate-forest owl of Chile and Argentina named for the warm rufous feathering that covers its legs down to the toes.
owl
Red-and-green Macaw
One of the largest macaws, a vivid red parrot of South American forests with a green wing band, blue flight feathers, and a bare white face marked with thin lines of red feathers.
parrot
Rufous Hummingbird
A fiercely territorial western hummingbird whose males show extensive rufous-orange body feathers along with a brilliant iridescent orange-red throat, among the most cinnamon-toned hummingbirds in North America.
hummingbird
Razorbill
A sleek, glossy black-and-white auk named for its deep, laterally flattened bill marked with a bold white vertical line, closely related to the extinct Great Auk.
seabird
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
A plain gray-breasted sparrow of rocky, brushy hillsides, identified by its rufous crown and a bold black malar stripe.
songbird
Rameron Pigeon
The Rameron Pigeon, or African Olive Pigeon, is a large, dark montane forest pigeon with a bright yellow bill and legs and pale spotting across its back.
dove pigeon
Satyr Tragopan
A vivid crimson Himalayan pheasant whose male is covered in white-centered black-bordered spots and can inflate a strikingly patterned blue throat lappet during display.
gamebird
Rainbow Lorikeet
The Rainbow Lorikeet is a brightly multicolored Australian parrot with a deep blue head, green back, and an orange breast band that make it unmistakable.
parrot
Sapphire Quail-Dove
A chunky, forest-floor quail-dove of the Amazon basin, its back and nape washed with an iridescent sapphire-blue and green sheen against a warm cinnamon face.
dove pigeon
Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
The Raggiana Bird-of-paradise, the national bird of Papua New Guinea, is known for the male's fiery red-orange flank plumes displayed in group courtship gatherings. It inhabits lowland and hill forest across much of New Guinea.
songbird
Saddleback
The Saddleback is a glossy black New Zealand wattlebird with a bold chestnut saddle across its back, now largely restricted to predator-free islands and sanctuaries.
songbird
Pygmy Nuthatch
The Pygmy Nuthatch is a tiny, highly social western pine-forest nuthatch whose dull gray-brown cap and small feather size distinguish it from other nuthatches.
songbird
Sacred Kingfisher
A quietly colored kingfisher of Australia and New Zealand, its blue-green upperparts easily overlooked until it darts from a perch.
other
Purple Sunbird
A common South Asian sunbird whose breeding males appear almost entirely glossy purple-black, while females and non-breeding males show plainer olive-brown and yellowish tones.
songbird
Saddle-billed Stork
One of Africa's tallest and most colorful storks, with a glossy black-and-white body and a spectacular red, black, and yellow bill, though the feathers themselves are simply patterned in black and white.
wading bird
Purple Sandpiper
A stocky, dark-plumaged sandpiper of wave-battered rocky coastlines, its feathers showing a subtle purplish gloss on slaty-gray upperparts unlike any other North Atlantic shorebird.
shorebird
Rose-bellied Bunting
A rare Mexican bunting found only near the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the male Rose-bellied Bunting shows turquoise-blue upperparts and a distinctive rose-pink belly.
songbird
Purple Finch
The Purple Finch is a chunky finch whose males show a raspberry-red wash extending over the back and rump, deeper than the localized red of the House Finch, while females show bold brown facial striping.
songbird
Ruffed Grouse
A woodland grouse of North America recognized by its intricately mottled brown or grey plumage, fan-shaped banded tail, and neck ruffs used in courtship drumming displays.
gamebird
Prairie Warbler
A small yellow wood-warbler with chestnut streaks on the back and bold facial markings, common in shrubby old fields and pine barrens, often seen bobbing its tail.
songbird
Ruddy Turnstone
A boldly patterned, harlequin-like shorebird known for flipping stones and debris in search of food, with breeding feathers combining rufous, black, and white in a striking tortoiseshell pattern.
shorebird
Powerful Owl
Australia's largest owl, a powerful hawk-owl of eucalypt forest that preys on tree-dwelling mammals, its underparts marked with bold dark chevrons rather than simple streaks or bars.
owl
Rock Bunting
The Rock Bunting is a bunting of dry, rocky hillsides across southern Europe and Asia, identified by its gray head with bold black stripes and a chestnut-streaked back.
songbird
Plush-crested Jay
A South American jay with a velvety black face, glowing yellow eyes, and a soft blue patch on the nape, its tail broadly tipped in white.
corvid
Rock Wren
A pale, finely speckled wren of arid rocky terrain, identified by its habit of bobbing on boulders and its buffy-tipped tail corners flashed in flight.
songbird
Plum-headed Parakeet
A small South Asian parakeet whose green body is topped by a distinctively colored head, plum-pink in males and soft grey-blue in females, each bordered by a fine neck ring.
parrot
Rock Sandpiper
The Pacific counterpart of the Purple Sandpiper, this stocky, dark shorebird forages on wave-swept rocky shores from Alaska south along the Pacific coast, its feathers showing the same somber, storm-suited coloring.
shorebird
Rufous-collared Robin
The Rufous-collared Robin is a highland thrush of Mexico and Guatemala, identified by its bright rufous-orange collar and breast band contrasting sharply against otherwise dark gray-black plumage.
songbird
Pileated Woodpecker
The largest common North American woodpecker, unmistakable for its crow-like size, deep black body, flaming red crest, and bold white neck stripes.
woodpecker
Rufous-capped Warbler
The Rufous-capped Warbler is a lively, tail-cocking warbler of brushy scrub habitat, marked by a rufous crown and bold white facial markings.
songbird
Pine Grosbeak
A large, tame northern finch with a stout bill, rosy-pink males and grey-and-yellow females, and bold white wing bars visible in flight.
songbird
Rock Pigeon
A stocky, familiar city bird whose feather color is famously variable, though wild-type individuals retain a blue-gray body with two dark wingbars and an iridescent green-purple neck.
dove pigeon
Pin-tailed Green Pigeon
The Pin-tailed Green Pigeon is a green forest pigeon distinguished by its long, needle-like central tail feathers that extend well beyond the rest of the tail.
dove pigeon
Rock Partridge
A mountain partridge of the Alps and Balkans, near-identical in plumage to the Chukar, with a black gorget stripe and bold chestnut-barred flanks.
gamebird
Pied Kingfisher
A striking black-and-white kingfisher known for hovering over water before plunging to catch prey.
other
Roseate Tern
A pale, elegant tern with unusually long tail streamers and a delicate pink blush to the breeding-season underparts, generally scarcer and more restricted to select coastal colonies than its close relatives.
seabird
Pied Imperial Pigeon
The Pied Imperial Pigeon is a striking black-and-white pigeon of coastal forests and islands, easily recognized by its creamy white body and bold black flight feathers.
dove pigeon
Rose-ringed Parakeet
A slender, bright green parakeet with a long pointed tail, best known for the males' narrow black-and-rose neck ring, and now familiar as a naturalized bird in cities well beyond its native range.
parrot
Pied Currawong
A large, mostly black Australian songbird, the Pied Currawong is marked by white patches on the wings and tail tip, and a bright yellow eye that stands out against its dark plumage.
songbird
Ruff
A shorebird famous for its extraordinary breeding-season variability, males growing elaborate, individually distinct neck ruffs and head tufts in colors ranging from black to chestnut to pure white.
shorebird
Pied Avocet
A crisp black-and-white wader with a black cap and nape, known for its elegant upturned bill and sweeping feeding motion.
shorebird
Ruddy Shelduck
A warm orange-cinnamon duck with a paler, buffy head, solid black flight feathers, and a bright white patch on the upperwing bordered by a glossy green speculum.
waterfowl
Philippine Falconet
A tiny falcon endemic to the Philippines, showing glossy black upperparts and white underparts with a rufous lower belly and thighs, distinct among the region's falconets.
raptor
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
A small, richly colored hummingbird whose male combines a ruby-red crown with a glowing golden-orange throat over a warm chestnut body.
hummingbird
Pheasant Pigeon
The Pheasant Pigeon is a shy, ground-dwelling New Guinea pigeon named for its long, pheasant-like tail and glossy, dark iridescent body.
dove pigeon
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
The only breeding hummingbird across most of eastern North America, males carry a brilliant iridescent red throat patch that can flash black in poor light, set against emerald-green upperparts.
hummingbird
Peach-faced Lovebird
A small green parrot with a soft peach-pink face and throat and a bright blue rump patch, native to southwestern Africa.
parrot