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.
Western Tanager
A colorful western North American forest songbird, the breeding male Western Tanager combines a yellow body and black wings with a striking orange-red wash across the head.
songbird
Bar-tailed Godwit
A high-Arctic-breeding godwit renowned for extraordinary nonstop transoceanic migratory flights, showing a finely barred tail and rich brick-red breeding underparts quite different from the bold black tail of the related Black-tailed Godwit.
shorebird
Western Kingbird
A pale gray-headed flycatcher with a yellow belly, often seen perched on wires in open country, told by white edges on its blackish tail.
songbird
Western Capercaillie
The largest grouse species, with males showing a dark, heavy build, an iridescent green breast sheen, and an impressively broad fan-shaped tail during display.
gamebird
Western Screech-Owl
A small owl of western North America, closely resembling the Eastern Screech-Owl but occurring predominantly in a grey-brown morph, with finely patterned plumage suited to camouflage against bark.
owl
Western Wood-Pewee
A plain, grayish-olive flycatcher of western woodlands, nearly identical to the Eastern Wood-Pewee but told apart mainly by voice and range.
songbird
Western Marsh Harrier
The Western Marsh Harrier is the largest and darkest of the Eurasian harriers, males showing a distinctive tricolor pattern of grey, brown, and black on the wings and tail, while females and juveniles are largely dark chocolate-brown with a pale creamy crown.
raptor
Red Kite
A rufous, forked-tailed raptor of Europe whose long, angular wings and deeply forked tail feathers are among the most recognizable silhouettes in the sky.
raptor
Red-naped Sapsucker
A western counterpart to the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, distinguished by a red patch on the nape in addition to the red forehead.
woodpecker
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
Red-bellied Woodpecker
A common eastern woodpecker with a finely barred, ladder-like back pattern unique among familiar woodpeckers, and a red cap or nape depending on sex.
woodpecker
Red-footed Falcon
The Red-footed Falcon is a small, gregarious falcon of eastern European and Asian steppes, males a striking dark slate-grey with rusty leggings, females patterned orange-buff with grey barring above.
raptor
Red-crowned Crane
One of the rarest cranes in the world, a large white East Asian crane with a black neck, a bare red crown, and elongated black secondary feathers that form a false 'tail' over its true white tail.
wading bird
Red-legged Honeycreeper
A small tropical songbird whose breeding males flash violet-blue plumage against solid black wings and tail, while females and non-breeding males wear soft green. It ranges from Mexico through much of South America, favoring forest edges and gardens where it sips nectar and gleans fruit.
songbird
Red-vented Bulbul
A common South Asian songbird with a short crest, dark scaly-edged plumage, and a bright red patch under the tail.
songbird
Red-billed Streamertail
Jamaica's national bird, the Red-billed Streamertail is famed for the male's extraordinarily long, curved tail feathers that produce a humming sound in flight.
hummingbird
Red Bird-of-paradise
The Red Bird-of-paradise is distinguished by the male's vivid crimson flank plumes and unique curled, ribbon-like black tail wires used in display. It is found only on a small number of islands in the Raja Ampat region of Indonesia.
songbird
Red-billed Blue Magpie
A long-tailed, blue-grey Asian corvid with a black head, red bill and legs, and a spectacular graduated tail tipped in white.
corvid
Willet
A large, plain-looking shorebird that transforms in flight, revealing a bold black-and-white wing pattern unlike any other North American sandpiper.
shorebird
Blue-tailed Bee-eater
A slender green bee-eater with a distinctive blue tail and rump, common across South and Southeast Asian lowlands.
other
Prairie Falcon
A pale falcon of arid western North America, best identified in flight by a distinctive dark patch on the underwing near the body, set against otherwise pale sandy-brown plumage.
raptor
Amur Falcon
The Amur Falcon is a small migratory falcon breeding in eastern Asia and famed for an enormous transoceanic migration to southern Africa, closely resembling the related Red-footed Falcon.
raptor
American Kestrel
The smallest and most colorful falcon in North America, a common sight perched on roadside wires, told by its rufous back and tail and, in males, contrasting blue-gray wings.
raptor
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