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.

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Olive Sparrow

The Olive Sparrow is a shy, thicket-dwelling sparrow of south Texas brushland, identified by its olive-green back and chestnut-striped crown.

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Nelson's Sparrow

A softly patterned marsh sparrow with a blurry orange face and grayish back streaking, found in both interior and coastal wetlands.

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Botteri's Sparrow

Botteri's Sparrow is a plain, grassland-loving sparrow of the Southwest, known for its dry, accelerating trill delivered from grass stems.

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Baird's Sparrow

An elusive prairie sparrow with a warm ochre crown stripe and fine necklace-like streaking, tied closely to intact native grassland.

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Bachman's Sparrow

Bachman's Sparrow is a secretive southeastern songbird best known for its long, sweet, whistled song delivered from a low perch in open pine woods.

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Red-tailed Hawk

The Red-tailed Hawk is a widespread North American buteo best known for its brick-red adult tail, pale underparts with a dark belly band, and broad, rounded wings often seen soaring over open country and roadsides.

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Ornate Hawk-Eagle

A powerful Neotropical forest raptor with a bold black crest, rufous cheeks and neck, and crisp black-and-white barring across the underparts, built for hunting within the forest canopy.

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Sharp-shinned Hawk

The Sharp-shinned Hawk is North America's smallest accipiter, with short rounded wings, a long square-tipped banded tail, and adult plumage of slate-grey upperparts with fine rufous barring below, built for darting through dense cover.

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Rough-legged Hawk

The Rough-legged Hawk is an Arctic-breeding buteo with a pale tail base and dark terminal band, a dark belly patch, and dark carpal patches on the underwing, plus legs feathered fully to the toes for insulation.

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Brown Hawk-Owl

The Brown Hawk-Owl is a widespread Asian owl with a hawk-like, tuftless head, dark brown upperparts, and rufous-streaked white underparts.

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Broad-winged Hawk

The Broad-winged Hawk is a compact, forest-nesting buteo with rufous-barred underparts and a short tail marked by bold, wide black-and-white bands, famous for gathering in enormous migrating flocks called 'kettles.'

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Papuan Hawk-Owl

A little-known, long-tailed forest owl endemic to New Guinea, with a hawk-like reduced facial disc and boldly barred underparts.

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Fox Sparrow

A large, richly colored sparrow whose reddish tail and heavily spotted breast make its feathers among the most distinctive of any North American sparrow.

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Vesper Sparrow

A streaky grassland sparrow best identified by white outer tail feathers and a small chestnut shoulder patch.

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Lincoln's Sparrow

A finely streaked, secretive sparrow with a buffy breast band, often described as one of the most subtly elegant sparrows.

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Lark Sparrow

A boldly patterned sparrow with a striking chestnut-and-white harlequin face pattern and a rounded, white-cornered tail.

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Song Sparrow

The Song Sparrow is a widespread, geographically variable sparrow whose brown-streaked feathers often converge into a distinctive central dark spot on the breast.

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Seaside Sparrow

A dark, long-billed sparrow tightly restricted to coastal salt marshes, with a small yellow spot in front of the eye.

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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.

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Field Sparrow

A small, subtly marked sparrow of old fields whose soft rufous-brown and gray feathers lack bold streaking, standing out mainly for their clean, quiet coloring.

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House Sparrow

The House Sparrow is an introduced species whose males show a gray crown, chestnut nape and black throat bib over a streaked brown back, while females are plain buffy-brown.

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