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.
Great Spotted Kiwi
The largest of the kiwi species, this flightless New Zealand bird has grayish, hair-like plumage marked with light mottled banding that gives it a more patterned look than its brown relatives. It inhabits rugged mountain forest and subalpine grassland on the South Island.
other
Common Pheasant
A large, long-tailed game bird, with males displaying iridescent copper and gold plumage, a glossy green head, and bright red facial wattles, often set off by a white neck ring in some populations. Females are far more subdued, cloaked in cryptic mottled brown for camouflage while nesting.
gamebird
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
Fieldfare
A boldly patterned, multi-toned thrush combining a grey head and rump with a chestnut back and black tail, often seen in large winter flocks across open farmland.
songbird
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
Redwing
The smallest widespread European thrush, easily told from its relatives by streaked (rather than spotted) underparts and bright reddish-orange flank and underwing feathers.
songbird
Townsend's Solitaire
A slender, uniformly gray thrush relative of western mountains, identified by its bold white eye-ring, long tail, and buffy wing patch visible in flight.
songbird
Eastern Bluebird
A small, vividly colored thrush whose blue feathers are produced by feather structure rather than pigment, giving them a shifting brightness depending on the angle of light.
songbird
Western Bluebird
A small western thrush whose males show rich cobalt-blue upperparts and wings against a rusty chest, making shed body feathers easy to spot on the ground under nest boxes and fence lines.
songbird
Cory's Shearwater
A large, pale brownish-gray shearwater with a yellowish bill, known for its slow, languid flight style compared to other shearwaters of similar size.
seabird
European Pied Flycatcher
A small Old World flycatcher in which breeding males show bold black-and-white plumage, while females and nonbreeding males are softer brownish-gray.
songbird
Black-cheeked Lovebird
A small lovebird with a dark brownish-black face, an orange-tinged forehead and throat, and a green body, restricted to a small region of southern Zambia.
parrot
Malachite Sunbird
A large African sunbird whose breeding males are covered in brilliant iridescent green plumage with long tail streamers, while females and non-breeding males show a much plainer, brownish, streaked appearance.
songbird