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.
Baird's Sandpiper
A long-winged, buff-toned sandpiper whose folded wingtips extend noticeably past the tail, giving it an elongated, tapered silhouette.
shorebird
Yellow-collared Lovebird
A small lovebird with a dark, mask-like head, a bright yellow collar and breast, and a green body, native to north-central Tanzania.
parrot
White-tailed Ptarmigan
The smallest ptarmigan species and the only one with an all-white tail year-round, found on high alpine tundra of western North America.
gamebird
White-fronted Bee-eater
A social African bee-eater notable for its crimson throat and white forehead, nesting in dense colonies along riverbanks.
other
Veery
The warmest-toned of the North American Catharus thrushes, with an evenly tawny-rufous back and only faint spotting on a pale breast.
songbird
Torresian Crow
A widespread crow of northern Australia and New Guinea, larger and more heavily built than the closely related Little Crow.
corvid
Sedge Wren
A tiny North American wren of wet sedge meadows, streaked above with a short indistinct eyebrow and a habit of cocking its short tail.
songbird
Hoary Redpoll
A pale, frosty-looking northern finch closely related to the Common Redpoll, breeding at even higher latitudes across the Arctic.
songbird
Mountain Quail
The largest quail native to North America, instantly recognized by the single thin, straight plume that projects from its crown.
gamebird
Fan-tailed Raven
A stocky, short-tailed raven of desert and rocky habitats, easily recognized in flight by its notably short, broad, fan-shaped tail.
corvid
Dunlin
A common small sandpiper whose breeding plumage features a bold black belly patch found on no other similarly sized shorebird.
shorebird
Chestnut-fronted Macaw
A small green macaw with a brown forehead patch and a red-and-green shoulder patch, found in lowland forests across northern South America.
parrot
Black Woodpecker
The largest woodpecker across most of Europe and northern Asia, entirely black except for a red crown patch and a pale bill.
woodpecker
Black Guillemot
A small, sooty-black auk of northern rocky coasts, easily told by a bold white oval patch on each wing and bright red legs and feet.
seabird
Black-footed Albatross
A dark, sooty-brown albatross of the North Pacific, lacking the white body of its relative the Laysan Albatross and named for its blackish feet.
seabird
Vesper Sparrow
A streaky grassland sparrow best identified by white outer tail feathers and a small chestnut shoulder patch.
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
Purple Heron
A slim, secretive relative of the Grey Heron with rich chestnut neck feathering and a habit of hiding among tall reeds.
wading bird
Masked Booby
The largest booby species, with a clean white body set off by black flight feathers, a black tail, and a dark facial mask around the bill.
seabird
Resplendent Quetzal
The Resplendent Quetzal is a brilliantly iridescent Central American cloud forest bird, with males trailing long, flowing tail covert streamers behind a shimmering green body and crimson belly. It has long been culturally significant across its Mesoamerican range.
other
Chihuahuan Raven
A desert raven of the American Southwest, smaller than the Common Raven, with hidden white feather bases at the neck.
corvid
Sun Parakeet
A vividly golden-yellow and orange parrot of the Guiana Shield in South America, with green and blue accents in the wings, prized in aviculture and now endangered in the wild.
parrot
Summer Tanager
Unlike its scarlet cousin, the male Summer Tanager is rosy-red from head to tail with no contrasting black wings, a year-round trait unique among North American tanagers.
songbird
Ural Owl
A large, pale grey-brown owl of Eurasian forests, known for its notably long tail and streaked (rather than barred) plumage, and for its fierce defense of nests.
owl