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.
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
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
Chilean Flicker
A ground-foraging flicker of Chile and Argentina, patterned in muted grays and browns to match the temperate woodland-steppe it inhabits.
woodpecker
Zenaida Dove
A warm cinnamon-brown Caribbean dove closely related to the Mourning Dove, told apart by its shorter, rounded tail edged in white.
dove pigeon
White-winged Dove
A brown-gray desert dove readily identified by a bold white stripe along the edge of the folded wing, visible both perched and in flight.
dove pigeon
California Scrub-Jay
A crestless, blue-and-gray jay of California's oak woodlands and gardens, showing a blue necklace across a whitish throat and gray-brown back.
corvid
Blue-footed Booby
A tropical seabird best known for its bright blue feet, with brown mottled upperparts, streaked head and neck, and a clean white belly.
seabird
Eurasian Treepie
A slender, rufous-brown corvid with a black head and an extremely long graduated tail, common in gardens and open woodland across South Asia.
corvid
Eastern Imperial Eagle
A large steppe eagle recognized by small white patches on the shoulders (scapulars) contrasting with otherwise dark brown plumage and a pale, creamy nape.
raptor
Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch
A North American alpine finch with a grey patch on the back of the head and rosy-pink feathering on the wings and belly against an otherwise brown body.
songbird
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
Andean Siskin
A modestly plumaged high-Andean finch with streaky brown-olive feathering, adapted to cold paramo grasslands rather than showy display.
songbird
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
A striking eastern songbird whose males show a bold black-and-white pattern set off by a triangular rose-red patch on the breast, one of the most distinctive feather patterns among North American songbirds.
songbird
Yellow-vented Bulbul
A common Southeast Asian songbird with brown upperparts, pale underparts, a dark eye stripe, and a bright yellow vent patch.
songbird
Squacco Heron
A small, unassuming heron that appears dull buff-brown at rest but reveals bright white wings the moment it takes flight.
wading bird
Lappet-faced Vulture
The largest vulture in Africa, with powerful build, mostly dark brown-black plumage, and a patch of contrasting white feathers on the thighs.
raptor
Northern Giant Petrel
An enormous, bulky tubenose with a massive pale bill, showing mottled brown plumage that lightens on the head and neck as birds mature.
seabird
Hooded Vulture
A small, slender African vulture with plain dark brown plumage and a distinctive whitish downy hood of feathers on the head and neck.
raptor
Arctic Tern
A slender, long-distance migrant famous for traveling between Arctic breeding grounds and Antarctic waters each year, distinguished from the similar Common Tern by an all-red bill and more uniformly translucent primaries.
seabird
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
Willow Flycatcher
A plain, olive-brown Empidonax flycatcher of willow thickets, best distinguished from close relatives by its faint or absent eye-ring and voice.
songbird
Siberian Jay
A soft-plumaged jay of the northern boreal forest, easily recognized by its fluffy grey-brown body and rusty-orange wing and tail patches.
corvid
Spotted Nutcracker
A chunky brown corvid covered in bold white spots, found in coniferous forests across Eurasia, where it caches nuts and pine seeds for winter.
corvid
Oak Titmouse
The Oak Titmouse is a plain, uniformly grayish-brown California relative of the Tufted Titmouse whose lack of bold markings is itself a key identification clue.
songbird