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.
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
Common Kingfisher
A small, jewel-like bird whose brilliant structurally iridescent blue back feathers and warm orange underparts make it one of the most vividly colored birds along any river.
other
Rainbow Bee-eater
Australia's only bee-eater, a multicolored bird combining green, gold, and turquoise plumage with a fine black tail streamer.
other
Double-crested Cormorant
A widespread, glossy black waterbird with a bright orange-yellow throat patch, often seen perched with wings spread to dry after diving.
seabird
Southern Red Bishop
A small African weaver whose breeding males turn brilliant scarlet and black, one of the most vividly colored birds of Africa's wetland grasses.
songbird
Sunbittern
A slender, heron-like bird whose subdued, bark-patterned plumage conceals a spectacular sunburst of chestnut, black, and buff revealed on the wings during display or flight. It stalks quietly along forest streams in the American tropics.
other
Pied Oystercatcher
A bold black-and-white shorebird with a long orange-red bill, found probing sandy beaches and mudflats along the Australian coast.
shorebird
American Oystercatcher
A large pied shorebird of American coastlines, with a black head and neck, brown rather than black back, and a long orange-red bill used to open shellfish.
shorebird
Sage Thrasher
The smallest and most compact North American thrasher, a streaky gray-brown bird of sagebrush country with a shorter, straighter bill than its relatives.
songbird
Bobolink
A grassland songbird famous for the breeding male's striking 'backward tuxedo' pattern of black underparts and pale back, and for its exceptionally long migration to South America.
songbird
Short-billed Dowitcher
A long-billed, sewing-machine-feeding shorebird whose breeding-season feathers show a warm rufous-orange wash with fine spotting, closely resembling the Long-billed Dowitcher but generally with finer, more restrained markings.
shorebird
Horned Screamer
A large, turkey-sized waterbird of South American wetlands, unmistakable for the long, slender horn-like spine projecting from its forehead. Its blackish, white-speckled plumage and loud trumpeting calls carry across open marshland.
other
Ruddy Turnstone
A boldly patterned, harlequin-like shorebird known for flipping stones and debris in search of food, with breeding feathers combining rufous, black, and white in a striking tortoiseshell pattern.
shorebird
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
A large all-white cockatoo with a tall sulphur-yellow crest that fans forward when the bird is alert or excited.
parrot
Dark-eyed Junco
A familiar winter feeder bird, the Dark-eyed Junco flashes bright white outer tail feathers against a slate-gray or brown body when it flies.
songbird
Emu
Australia's largest bird, the Emu has loose, hair-like feathers that grow in pairs from a single shaft, giving its plumage a shaggy, fur-like texture unlike any flying bird.
other
Mandarin Duck
An East Asian perching duck famed for the male's uniquely upright orange 'sail' feathers on the wing, among the most distinctive single feathers of any bird in the world.
waterfowl
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
Sri Lanka Junglefowl
Sri Lanka's national bird, a forest junglefowl whose males glow in rich orange-red plumage set off by a red comb marked with a distinctive yellow center patch.
gamebird
American Robin
The American Robin is a familiar thrush whose warm orange breast feathers and plain gray-brown back feathers make it one of the easiest yard birds to identify from a single dropped feather.
songbird
Moluccan Cockatoo
A large cockatoo with pale pinkish-white plumage and a spectacular salmon-orange crest that fans wide when raised.
parrot
Greylag Goose
A bulky gray-brown goose, ancestor of most domestic geese breeds, recognized by its heavy orange-pink bill and a pale bluish-gray patch on the forewing.
waterfowl
Cave Swallow
A close relative of Cliff Swallow with a paler, more orange-buff throat and forehead, typically found nesting in caves, culverts, and sinkholes.
songbird
Beavan's Bullfinch
A compact, orange-breasted bullfinch of Himalayan and Chinese mountain forests, easily told by its gray cap and bold pale wing bar.
songbird