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.
Syrian Woodpecker
A close look-alike of the Great Spotted Woodpecker found across southeastern Europe and the Middle East, best separated by an incomplete black neck bar and a paler pink vent.
woodpecker
Swallow-tailed Kite
A graceful, boldly two-toned raptor with a deeply forked tail, whose sharp black-and-white feathers are unlike almost any other North American bird of prey.
raptor
Spotted Towhee
The western counterpart to the Eastern Towhee, distinguished by bold white spots and streaks across the back and wing feathers layered over the same black-rufous-white color scheme.
songbird
Red-faced Warbler
A gray-backed, high-mountain warbler with a strikingly bright red face and throat set off by a black crown and nape, unlike any other North American warbler.
songbird
Mountain Caracara
A bold, high-altitude Andean raptor with black upperparts and breast set against a clean white belly and rump, often seen scavenging near mountain settlements and livestock.
raptor
Mikado Pheasant
A striking Taiwanese endemic pheasant, with males cloaked in glossy blue-black plumage set off by a bold white wing bar and a long, narrowly white-barred tail.
gamebird
Jardine's Parrot
Jardine's Parrot is a stocky African forest parrot whose green feathers are neatly edged in black, giving a scaled texture, accented by orange-red patches on the head and shoulders.
parrot
Jabiru
The largest flying bird of the Americas, an enormous white stork with a bare black head and neck marked by a distinctive red collar at the base, found in wetlands from Mexico to Argentina.
wading bird
Collared Falconet
One of the tiniest falcons in the world, showing glossy black upperparts, a crisp white collar, and a small rufous forehead patch across forest edges of South and Southeast Asia.
raptor
Coal Tit
The smallest common European tit, with a black head, white cheeks, and a distinctive white patch on the nape, paired with buff underparts and two white wingbars on grey-olive wings.
songbird
Chestnut-collared Longspur
The Chestnut-collared Longspur is a prairie songbird whose breeding males show striking black underparts and a chestnut nape collar, delivered in a fluttering display flight over grassland.
songbird
Elegant Trogon
A striking trogon of southwestern borderland canyons, the Elegant Trogon shows metallic green upperparts, a vivid red belly, and a coppery tail with a bold black-and-white barred underside.
other
Eastern Towhee
A large, ground-dwelling sparrow relative with bold black (or brown), white, and rufous plumage, often first noticed scratching noisily through leaf litter in dense thickets.
songbird
Hooded Warbler
A vivid yellow-faced warbler whose adult males wear a complete black hood over the crown, nape, and throat, framing the bright yellow face like a cowl.
songbird
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
Woodchat Shrike
A boldly patterned southern European shrike with a rich chestnut crown and a crisp white shoulder patch that contrasts sharply with its black wings.
songbird
White-throated Swift
A boldly patterned black-and-white swift of western cliffs and canyons, easily recognized by its striking contrast and remarkably fast, direct flight.
other
Magnificent Frigatebird
A large, aerial seabird with long angular wings and a deeply forked tail, glossy black in males and marked with a white breast patch in females.
seabird
Little Bittern
The Old World counterpart to the Least Bittern, a tiny, secretive marsh heron with a black cap and back in males and warmer brown tones in females.
wading bird
Lesser Goldfinch
The Lesser Goldfinch is a diminutive southwestern finch whose males show a black or dark green back sharply contrasting with bright yellow underparts.
songbird
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
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
Pied Falconet
A strikingly pied falconet with clean black-and-white plumage and no rufous coloring at all, found across southern China and northern Southeast Asia.
raptor
Passerini's Tanager
A Central American forest-edge tanager, the male Passerini's Tanager is glossy black overall except for a vivid scarlet-red patch on the rump.
songbird