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.

Ovenbird
A ground-dwelling warbler that looks more like a small thrush, with heavily streaked underparts and a bold orange crown stripe bordered in black.
songbird
Hooded Warbler
A vivid yellow-faced warbler whose adult males wear a complete black hood over the crown, nape, and throat, framing the bright yellow face like a cowl.
songbird
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
A brilliant pink bee-eater of the African Sahel, closely resembling its southern counterpart but with a green crown rather than blue.
other
Black-throated Green Warbler
A small wood-warbler with a bright yellow face framed by an olive-green crown and a black throat, breeding in northern conifer forests.
songbird
Bay-breasted Warbler
A small wood-warbler with rich chestnut coloring on the crown, throat, and flanks, breeding in boreal spruce-fir forest tied to spruce budworm outbreaks.
songbird
Eurasian Blackcap
A plain grey-brown warbler whose crown feathers immediately reveal its sex: solid glossy black in males, warm reddish-brown in females and juveniles.
songbird
Western Sandpiper
A tiny sandpiper with black legs and a long, slightly drooped bill, showing rufous highlights on the crown and scapulars in breeding plumage.
shorebird
Woodchat Shrike
A boldly patterned southern European shrike with a rich chestnut crown and a crisp white shoulder patch that contrasts sharply with its black wings.
songbird
Grey-capped Greenfinch
A form of East Asian greenfinch showing a distinctly grey crown and nape contrasting with olive-green body plumage and yellow wing flashes.
songbird
Chestnut-sided Warbler
A small wood-warbler with a bold chestnut stripe along white flanks and a yellow-green crown, common in shrubby second-growth habitat.
songbird
Canyon Towhee
The Canyon Towhee is a plain, dusty-brown ground bird of southwestern deserts and canyons, distinguished by a rufous crown and a dark central breast spot.
songbird
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
An alpine finch restricted to the southern Rocky Mountains, showing a plain cinnamon-brown cap that lacks the grey crown patch of related rosy-finch species.
songbird
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
Fork-tailed Sunbird
A small sunbird of southern China and Southeast Asia named for its notched, forked tail, with males showing a scarlet throat and iridescent green crown.
songbird
Virginia's Warbler
A gray-bodied warbler of dry interior western scrublands, marked by a bright yellow rump and breast patch, a white eye-ring, and a concealed chestnut crown patch.
songbird
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
A small farmland sparrow distinguished from its House Sparrow relative by a chestnut crown (rather than grey) and a distinct black spot on an otherwise white cheek.
songbird
White-eared Hummingbird
A small montane hummingbird instantly recognizable by its broad white stripe behind the eye, set against a violet crown and green throat.
hummingbird
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker
A small, widespread Asian woodpecker with a grey-brown crown and crisply barred back, closely resembling other pygmy woodpeckers across its broad range.
woodpecker
Cardinal Woodpecker
One of the smallest and most widespread African woodpeckers, common across savanna and woodland, with the male's red-tipped crown giving rise to its 'cardinal' name.
woodpecker
Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker
A boreal-forest specialist recognized by its yellow crown patch in males and finely barred black-and-white flanks, closely tied to insect-affected conifers.
woodpecker
Crimson Sunbird
A vividly colored South and Southeast Asian sunbird whose males combine brilliant crimson plumage with a metallic green crown and elongated central tail feathers.
songbird
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
White-throated Sparrow
The White-throated Sparrow is easily identified by its crisp white throat patch and small yellow lore spot, occurring in two crown-striped color morphs.
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