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.
Ruddy Shelduck
A warm orange-cinnamon duck with a paler, buffy head, solid black flight feathers, and a bright white patch on the upperwing bordered by a glossy green speculum.
waterfowl
Gadwall
A subtly patterned grey dabbling duck best known for a crisp white speculum patch and, in males, a bold black rear end, both visible even on a single found feather.
waterfowl
Red Junglefowl
The wild ancestor of the domestic chicken, with males displaying glossy orange-gold neck hackles and long, curved, iridescent black tail feathers.
gamebird
Atlantic Canary
The wild ancestor of the domestic canary, a streaky yellow-green island finch native to the Canary Islands, Azores, and Madeira.
songbird
African Collared-Dove
A pale, sandy-toned dove of African savanna and scrub, best known as the wild ancestor of the domesticated ring-necked dove.
dove pigeon
Red Siskin
A small, brilliantly red South American finch with a black hood and wings, now rare in the wild and notable for its striking male plumage.
songbird
Sun Parakeet
A vividly golden-yellow and orange parrot of the Guiana Shield in South America, with green and blue accents in the wings, prized in aviculture and now endangered in the wild.
parrot
Northern Pintail
An elegant, long-necked dabbling duck whose male grows dramatically elongated central tail feathers, among the most recognizable single feathers of any duck.
waterfowl
Hawaiian Crow
A critically rare Hawaiian corvid with softer, browner plumage than mainland crows, subject to intensive conservation efforts after disappearing from the wild.
corvid
Budgerigar
A small, gregarious Australian parakeet whose wild-type plumage combines bright yellow-green underparts with a finely scalloped black-and-yellow pattern across the nape and wings.
parrot
Rock Dove
The wild ancestor of the familiar city pigeon, typically blue-grey with bold black wing bars and a white rump, though feral descendants show enormous color variation.
dove pigeon
Red-billed Quelea
A small African weaver famous for forming the largest flocks of any wild bird, with breeding males sporting a bold black or white facial mask and a bright red bill.
songbird
Rock Pigeon
A stocky, familiar city bird whose feather color is famously variable, though wild-type individuals retain a blue-gray body with two dark wingbars and an iridescent green-purple neck.
dove pigeon
Surf Scoter
The Surf Scoter is a chunky black sea duck marked by bold white patches on the forehead and nape, paired with a strikingly multicolored bill.
waterfowl
Hooded Merganser
The Hooded Merganser is a small, richly patterned fish-eating duck whose male displays a spectacular fan-shaped white crest bordered in black.
waterfowl
Redhead
A medium-large diving duck with a rounded reddish-chestnut head, distinguished from the similar Canvasback by its rounder head shape and darker grey body.
waterfowl
Bufflehead
The Bufflehead is a tiny, big-headed diving duck whose male sports a bold white bonnet-like patch across an iridescent black-green head.
waterfowl
Red-breasted Merganser
The Red-breasted Merganser is a slim, crested fish-eating duck with a shaggy double crest and a streaked rusty breast that sets it apart from its Common Merganser relative.
waterfowl
Lesser Scaup
The Lesser Scaup is a widespread diving duck with a peaked crown and subtle purple gloss on the male's head, most often found on inland lakes and reservoirs during migration and winter.
waterfowl
Cinnamon Teal
A small dabbling duck whose male is a striking uniform cinnamon-red, sharing the same pale blue wing patch found in Blue-winged Teal and Northern Shoveler.
waterfowl
Common Scoter
The Common Scoter is the Eurasian counterpart of the Black Scoter, a sea duck whose breeding male is entirely black apart from a yellow-orange patch along the ridge of the bill.
waterfowl
Common Merganser
The Common Merganser is a large, sleek fish-eating duck whose male combines a glossy dark green head with an almost entirely white body faintly tinged pink.
waterfowl
Barrow's Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye is a striking western and northern diving duck distinguished from the similar Common Goldeneye by a crescent-shaped white face patch and bolder black markings on the back.
waterfowl
Paradise Shelduck
A large New Zealand duck with striking sex-based color difference, males dark and glossy while females show a bright white head and chestnut body.
waterfowl