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.
House Wren
A plain grayish-brown wren common in yards and gardens across the Americas, identifiable by fine dark barring on its short, often-cocked tail feathers.
songbird
Carib Grackle
A small, glossy grackle common around towns and farmland in the southern Caribbean and northern South America, recognized by its keel-shaped tail and noisy flocking habits.
songbird
African Sacred Ibis
An African wading bird with white plumage, a bare black head and neck, and loose black plumes on the lower back, historically revered in ancient Egypt and now also established as an introduced species in parts of Europe and North America.
wading bird
Eurasian Collared-Dove
A pale, stocky dove readily identified by the black half-collar on its nape and its square tail's bold white terminal band, now common across much of North America.
dove pigeon
Ring-billed Gull
A common, adaptable medium-sized gull of North America named for the black band around its bill, the Ring-billed Gull shows pale gray back feathers and yellow legs, thriving in habitats from lakeshores to parking lots.
seabird
Chimango Caracara
A common, uniformly brown caracara of southern South America's open country and cities, often seen scavenging in fields, parks, and roadsides.
raptor
Whooping Crane
The tallest bird in North America, an endangered white crane with black wingtips visible in flight and a bare red crown, best known for its dramatic conservation recovery story.
wading bird
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
An alpine finch restricted to the southern Rocky Mountains, showing a plain cinnamon-brown cap that lacks the grey crown patch of related rosy-finch species.
songbird
House Sparrow
The House Sparrow is an introduced species whose males show a gray crown, chestnut nape and black throat bib over a streaked brown back, while females are plain buffy-brown.
songbird
Black-necked Crane
A high-altitude specialist crane of the Tibetan Plateau, pale grey overall with a black head and neck and a bare red crown, adapted to some of the highest wetland habitats used by any crane species.
wading bird
Chestnut-sided Warbler
A small wood-warbler with a bold chestnut stripe along white flanks and a yellow-green crown, common in shrubby second-growth habitat.
songbird
Firecrest
The Firecrest is one of Europe's smallest songbirds, a mite of a bird whose soft, downy contour feathers are topped with a blazing orange-and-black crown stripe unlike any similarly sized species.
songbird
Cardinal Woodpecker
One of the smallest and most widespread African woodpeckers, common across savanna and woodland, with the male's red-tipped crown giving rise to its 'cardinal' name.
woodpecker
Black-chinned Siskin
A southern South American finch marked by a small black chin patch and crown against otherwise yellow-green plumage.
songbird
Eurasian Wigeon
The Old World counterpart to the American Wigeon, with a rich chestnut head, pale cream crown stripe, and grey axillary feathers that distinguish it from its American relative.
waterfowl
Cassin's Finch
A western North American mountain finch whose males show a bright rosy-red crown sharply contrasting with a brown-streaked back.
songbird
Red-lored Amazon
The Red-lored Amazon is a widespread Central American parrot identified by the band of red across its forehead and lores, bordered by blue on the crown.
parrot
Capped Heron
A softly colored South American heron with creamy buff-white plumage, a glossy black cap, and long pale plumes trailing from the crown.
wading bird
Golden-hooded Tanager
A jewel-like songbird of Central American and northern South American forests, the Golden-hooded Tanager combines a black facial mask with a turquoise-and-gold crown and blue-green body.
songbird
Green-cheeked Conure
A small, compact South American conure with green cheeks, a grey-brown crown, and a distinctive maroon-red tail contrasting with its mostly green body.
parrot
Wilson's Bird-of-paradise
Wilson's Bird-of-paradise is a small, intensely colorful species with a red back, yellow nape, an iridescent green breast shield, and a bare, patterned blue crown. It is restricted to a couple of small Indonesian islands where males display and clear small ground courts.
songbird
Eurasian Blue Tit
A small, brightly colored garden tit with a blue crown and wings, yellow underparts, and white cheeks bordered by a thin black eye-line, among the most colorful common feathers in European gardens.
songbird
Lucy's Warbler
One of the smallest and palest North American warblers, essentially plain gray and white apart from a bright rufous rump patch and a concealed rufous crown spot.
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