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.
Marsh Tit
A plain-plumaged woodland tit with a small, neat glossy black cap and bib set against pale buff-brown body feathers, with plain wings lacking any wingbar.
songbird
Killdeer
A loud, boldly patterned plover of open ground across North America, easily told by its double black breast bands and bright orange-buff rump revealed in flight.
shorebird
Gadwall
A subtly patterned grey dabbling duck best known for a crisp white speculum patch and, in males, a bold black rear end, both visible even on a single found feather.
waterfowl
Forster's Tern
A North American marsh tern with notably pale, frosty primaries and a distinctive nonbreeding head pattern featuring a dark patch through the eye rather than a full black cap.
seabird
Eared Dove
One of South America's most abundant doves, recognized by a small dark crescent below the eye and neat black spots scattered across its warm pinkish-brown wings.
dove pigeon
American White Ibis
A common white ibis of the southeastern United States, Central America, and the Caribbean, easily identified by its bright pink-red decurved bill and legs and black wingtips visible in flight.
wading bird
Thick-billed Murre
A stocky, high-latitude relative of the Common Murre, distinguished by blacker upperparts, a thicker bill marked with a pale line along the gape, and a hardier tolerance for icy waters.
seabird
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
The Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill is a mid-sized African savanna hornbill with speckled black-and-white upperparts, white underparts, and a long, curved pale yellow bill. It is a familiar sight foraging on the ground in dry woodland across southern Africa.
other
Torrent Duck
A slender, streamlined duck specialized for life in swift Andean rivers, with males showing bold black-and-white stripes and females a warm rufous-orange breast. Its stiff, pointed tail helps it brace against rocks in fast current.
waterfowl
Tui
The Tui is a New Zealand honeyeater whose plumage looks black at a distance but shimmers with iridescent green, blue, and bronze up close, set off by two curled white throat tufts.
songbird
Summer Tanager
Unlike its scarlet cousin, the male Summer Tanager is rosy-red from head to tail with no contrasting black wings, a year-round trait unique among North American tanagers.
songbird
Scarlet Ibis
A brilliantly colored South American and Caribbean ibis, entirely vivid scarlet-red apart from black wingtips, closely related to the American White Ibis but far more vividly pigmented.
wading bird
Rufous-collared Robin
The Rufous-collared Robin is a highland thrush of Mexico and Guatemala, identified by its bright rufous-orange collar and breast band contrasting sharply against otherwise dark gray-black plumage.
songbird
Ruff
A shorebird famous for its extraordinary breeding-season variability, males growing elaborate, individually distinct neck ruffs and head tufts in colors ranging from black to chestnut to pure white.
shorebird
Regent Parrot
The Regent Parrot is a slender, long-tailed Australian parrot in which males are largely bright yellow with bold red and black wing markings, while females are a much duller olive-green.
parrot
House Martin
The House Martin is a small aerial songbird with glossy blue-black upperpart feathers, a bright white rump patch, and clean white underparts, built for a life spent almost entirely on the wing.
songbird
Martial Eagle
The Martial Eagle is Africa's largest eagle, with dark grey-brown upperparts, a white underside heavily spotted with brown-black, and immense broad wings built for powerful soaring over savanna.
raptor
Long-tailed Tit
A tiny, round-bodied tit with an extraordinarily long tail exceeding its body length, patterned in black, white, and soft dusky pink, among the most distinctive silhouettes in European woodland.
songbird
Lesser Redpoll
A tiny, heavily streaked brown finch with a small red forehead patch and black chin, males showing a pink wash across the breast, closely tied to birch, alder, and willow woodland.
songbird
King Eider
The King Eider is a large arctic sea duck whose male combines a colorful blue-gray and pale green head with a black body and white breast, topped by an orange bill shield.
waterfowl
Golden-naped Finch
A Himalayan finch, also known by the alternate name Gold-naped Finch, whose male shows a black head brightened by a golden nape patch above a rich orange-brown body.
songbird
Common Goldeneye
The Common Goldeneye is a striking black-and-white diving duck named for its piercing golden-yellow eye, with males showing a round white spot on an otherwise glossy dark green head.
waterfowl
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
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