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.
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
A Gulf Coast hummingbird recognized by its warm buffy belly and rufous tail contrasting with an iridescent green throat and back.
hummingbird
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
Eastern Kingbird
A bold, dark-backed flycatcher with clean white underparts and a distinctive white terminal band across an otherwise black tail.
songbird
Hairy Woodpecker
A larger look-alike of the Downy Woodpecker, distinguished by its longer bill and plain, unspotted white outer tail feathers.
woodpecker
Great Crested Flycatcher
A large woodland flycatcher with a bushy crest, gray throat, and bright yellow belly, showing rufous flashes in the wings and tail.
songbird
Abyssinian Roller
A vividly blue roller of the African Sahel, similar to the Lilac-breasted Roller but with a plainer blue throat and longer tail streamers.
other
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
Savannah Sparrow
A common, finely streaked grassland sparrow with a short notched tail and a hint of yellow over the eye, blending easily into open fields.
songbird
Pomarine Jaeger
The largest and bulkiest of the jaegers, recognized in breeding adults by broad, spoon-twisted central tail feathers and heavily barred underwing coverts.
seabird
Piapiac
A slender, glossy black African corvid with a long tail, often seen following cattle or large game to catch flushed insects.
corvid
King Vulture
A striking tropical vulture with mostly creamy white plumage, jet-black flight and tail feathers, and a vividly multicolored bare head.
raptor
Gray Treepie
A gray, long-tailed corvid of Himalayan and Southeast Asian hill forests, distinguished by its black face mask and rufous undertail.
corvid
Cape Gannet
A large white seabird closely related to the Northern Gannet, distinguished by a black tail and a black band crossing the secondary flight feathers.
seabird
Black-billed Magpie
A boldly patterned black-and-white corvid of the American West, instantly recognizable by its long, iridescent tail and noisy, sociable habits.
corvid
Baird's Sandpiper
A long-winged, buff-toned sandpiper whose folded wingtips extend noticeably past the tail, giving it an elongated, tapered silhouette.
shorebird
Oriental Greenfinch
An East Asian finch with olive-green body plumage and bright yellow flashes in the wings and tail, closely related to the European Greenfinch.
songbird
Ash-throated Flycatcher
A pale desert-country flycatcher with an ashy-gray throat, soft yellow belly wash, and a rufous tail that flashes when it flies.
songbird
Northern Cassowary
A very large, flightless rainforest bird of New Guinea, covered in coarse, hair-like black plumage that contrasts with vividly colored blue-and-red bare skin on the head and neck. A single throat wattle and a tall bony casque distinguish it from its relatives.
other
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
Princess Parrot
The Princess Parrot is a slender, pastel-colored parrot of Australia's arid interior, notable for its soft pink throat and long, elegant tail.
parrot
Palm Warbler
A ground-foraging wood-warbler with a rufous cap in breeding plumage and constant tail-bobbing, breeding in northern bogs and wintering in the southeastern US.
songbird
Magnificent Frigatebird
A large, aerial seabird with long angular wings and a deeply forked tail, glossy black in males and marked with a white breast patch in females.
seabird
Little Wattlebird
The Little Wattlebird is a large, grey-brown honeyeater with a rufous wing patch and a long tail, best known for its harsh, coughing calls.
songbird
Lilac-breasted Roller
One of Africa's most colorful birds, with a lilac breast, turquoise belly, and long tail streamers, often perched conspicuously on bare branches.
other