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.
Black-headed Siskin
A Central American finch with a solid black hood, yellow-olive body plumage, and black wings marked by bright yellow patches.
songbird
Black-headed Heron
A large grey African heron with a solidly dark head and nape, often seen stalking dry grassland and farmland well away from water.
wading bird
Black-headed Caique
A small, sharply patterned Amazonian parrot with a black crown, orange cheeks, and clean white underparts.
parrot
Black-headed Bunting
The Black-headed Bunting is a boldly colored songbird of southeastern Europe and southwest Asia, with breeding males showing a solid black head, chestnut back, and vivid yellow underparts.
songbird
Black-headed Grosbeak
The western counterpart of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, this species trades the rose-red breast for a warm cinnamon-orange body beneath a solid black head and boldly patterned black-and-white wings.
songbird
Black-headed Greenfinch
A Himalayan and Southeast Asian finch with a solid black hood contrasting sharply with olive-yellow body plumage and bright yellow wing patches.
songbird
Black-headed Mountain Finch
A high-altitude finch of the Himalayas and Central Asian ranges, known for its blackish head and body offset by rosy-pink wing feathers.
songbird
Red-headed Woodpecker
One of the most strikingly patterned North American woodpeckers, with an entirely crimson-red head set against bold black-and-white body plumage.
woodpecker
Chestnut-headed Oropendola
A medium-sized oropendola with a rich chestnut head and neck contrasting against a black body, a pale bill, and a small patch of yellow at the tail tip.
songbird
Red-headed Bunting
The Red-headed Bunting is a brightly colored central Asian songbird whose breeding males show a chestnut-orange head, greenish back, and yellow underparts, closely related to the Black-headed Bunting.
songbird
Scarlet-headed Blackbird
A striking marsh-dwelling blackbird with a vivid scarlet head, neck, and breast set against an otherwise entirely black body, found in wetlands of central South America.
songbird
Bar-headed Goose
A pale gray goose renowned for migrating over the Himalayas at extreme altitude, identified by a white head marked with two bold black bars across the crown and nape.
waterfowl
Yellow-headed Blackbird
The Yellow-headed Blackbird is a large, striking marsh bird easily identified by its bright yellow head and breast contrasting sharply with glossy black body plumage and a bold white wing patch.
songbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
A small blackbird best known for laying its eggs in other birds' nests, with males showing a sharply contrasting brown head against a glossy black body and females entirely plain gray-brown.
songbird
White-headed Woodpecker
A distinctive western pine forest woodpecker with an entirely white head set against an otherwise black body.
woodpecker
Brown-headed Nuthatch
The Brown-headed Nuthatch is a tiny southeastern pine specialist whose warm brown cap feathers, rather than black, set it apart from other nuthatches.
songbird
Laughing Owl
An extinct New Zealand owl known for its odd, laughter-like call, with soft brown mottled plumage and a paler facial area; now known only from museum specimens.
owl
Laughing Kookaburra
A large, heavy-billed kingfisher relative famous for its loud, cackling call that resembles raucous laughter.
other
Black-faced Bunting
A widespread East Asian bunting with a greenish-grey head, black face mask on males, and yellow-tinged underparts.
songbird
Black-legged Kittiwake
A truly pelagic gull that spends most of its life far out at sea, recognized by its clean gray-and-white plumage, black legs, and wingtips that look as though they were dipped in black ink.
seabird
Black-collared Hawk
A striking rufous-orange wetland hawk of the Neotropics, immediately recognizable by its pale creamy head and the narrow black band crossing its upper chest.
raptor
Black-necked Swan
A striking South American swan with a pure white body set off by a jet-black head and neck, plus a bright red facial knob at the base of the bill.
waterfowl
Black-and-chestnut Eagle
A rare and powerful Andean raptor with a blackish head and upperparts contrasting sharply against rich chestnut underparts, found in high-elevation cloud forest.
raptor
American Black Duck
A large, dark dabbling duck of eastern North America that resembles a female Mallard but is much darker overall, with a contrasting pale head and white underwings visible in flight.
waterfowl