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.
Great Black-backed Gull
The world's largest gull, the Great Black-backed Gull shows strikingly dark slate-black mantle feathers contrasting with a pure white head and body, and is a powerful predator as well as scavenger along North Atlantic coasts.
seabird
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
Osprey
The Osprey is a fish-eating raptor with dark brown upperparts, a white head marked by a bold dark eye-stripe, white underparts, and long, angled wings showing a distinctive dark carpal patch and barred flight feathers.
raptor
Grass Owl
A ground-nesting barn-owl relative of tall grasslands from Asia to Australia, with long slender legs and golden-buff to dark brown feathers finely spotted, adapted to a life spent low over open grass.
owl
Oriental Pied Hornbill
The Oriental Pied Hornbill is a medium-sized Asian hornbill with strongly contrasting black-and-white plumage, including a tail marked with white outer feathers. It is one of the more adaptable hornbills, tolerating forest edge and even wooded parkland.
other
Swainson's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk is a long-winged buteo of open grassland and prairie, typically showing a dark breast bib, paler belly, and notably dark flight feathers contrasting against paler underwing coverts, distinct from the broader-winged buteos it shares range with.
raptor
Oriental Greenfinch
An East Asian finch with olive-green body plumage and bright yellow flashes in the wings and tail, closely related to the European Greenfinch.
songbird
Timneh Parrot
A darker, slightly smaller relative of the African Grey Parrot, with charcoal-grey plumage and a duller maroon rather than bright red tail.
parrot
Indian Peacock-Pheasant
A forest-floor gamebird of South and Southeast Asia whose grayish-brown plumage is studded with dozens of shimmering blue-green eyespots across the wings and long tail.
gamebird
Pacific Black Duck
The Pacific Black Duck is a mottled dark brown dabbling duck with a distinctive pale face crossed by dark eye stripes, common on wetlands across Australia and the Pacific.
waterfowl
White-faced Heron
The most widespread heron in Australia and New Zealand, easily recognized by its soft blue-grey plumage set off by a clean white face.
wading bird
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
Northern Shrike
A pale, predatory songbird of the far north that winters across open habitats farther south, distinguished from the smaller Loggerhead Shrike by its larger bill and faintly barred underparts.
songbird
Galah
A distinctive two-toned cockatoo with a rose-pink face and underparts contrasting sharply against pale grey wings and back.
parrot
Black-faced Bunting
A widespread East Asian bunting with a greenish-grey head, black face mask on males, and yellow-tinged underparts.
songbird
House Crow
A slender crow native to South Asia, easily recognized by its glossy black cap paired with a pale grey collar and underparts.
corvid
Indian Pond Heron
A small, drably streaked heron of South Asia that seems to vanish among vegetation at rest, then reveals bright white wings the instant it flies.
wading bird
Bamboo Partridge
A grayish-brown East Asian partridge marked by a warm chestnut face and throat patch, favoring dense bamboo and scrub cover.
gamebird
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
Least Flycatcher
One of the smallest Empidonax flycatchers, notable for its bold white eye-ring and crisp wing bars against grayish-olive plumage.
songbird
Red Collared-Dove
A small Asian dove with pronounced sexual dimorphism, the male showing a rich wine-red body while the female is a much duller grayish-brown.
dove pigeon
Nelson's Sparrow
A softly patterned marsh sparrow with a blurry orange face and grayish back streaking, found in both interior and coastal wetlands.
songbird
Hepatic Tanager
A dusky-red tanager of pine-oak mountain forest, the male Hepatic Tanager is brick-red overall with a subtle grayish cheek patch and a dark bill.
songbird
Ring-necked Dove
One of the most familiar doves across sub-Saharan Africa, soft grayish-brown overall with a neat black half-collar and a gentle, rhythmic call.
dove pigeon