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.
Black-capped Vireo
The Black-capped Vireo is a small, energetic vireo of shrubby oak habitat, with males showing a bold black cap set off by striking white spectacles.
songbird
Bank Myna
A bluish-gray South Asian myna with warm brick-colored underparts and a distinctive patch of bare orange-red skin behind the eye, often found nesting in burrows along riverbanks.
songbird
Black-capped Siskin
A highland finch of Mexico and Central America marked by a neat black cap contrasting with olive-yellow body plumage.
songbird
Black-capped Lory
The Black-capped Lory is a vividly red New Guinea parrot topped with a solid black cap and accented by blue patches on the nape and thighs.
parrot
Baltimore Oriole
A vividly colored eastern songbird whose adult males show a striking contrast of flame-orange and black feathers, best known for weaving an elaborate hanging nest.
songbird
Bell's Sparrow
A dark-headed sparrow of California scrublands, with a bold facial pattern and plainer back than its close relative, the Sagebrush Sparrow.
songbird
Baird's Sparrow
An elusive prairie sparrow with a warm ochre crown stripe and fine necklace-like streaking, tied closely to intact native grassland.
songbird
Bee Hummingbird
The smallest bird species on Earth, native only to Cuba, with breeding males showing a fiery, iridescent pink-red head and throat over a tiny bluish-green body.
hummingbird
Bachman's Sparrow
Bachman's Sparrow is a secretive southeastern songbird best known for its long, sweet, whistled song delivered from a low perch in open pine woods.
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
Azure-winged Magpie
A slender, pastel-toned corvid with a black cap and soft blue wings and tail, common in flocks across East Asian woodland and parkland.
corvid
Beautiful Fruit Dove
A rainbow-colored fruit dove of New Guinea's rainforests, combining a lilac-purple crown, green body, and a bright orange-yellow breast band into one striking pattern.
dove pigeon
Aztec Thrush
The Aztec Thrush is a boldly patterned montane thrush of Mexican cloud forest, marked by striking white wing patches and white-tipped tail feathers against dark brown-black body plumage.
songbird
Black-capped Chickadee
The Black-capped Chickadee is a tiny, non-migratory songbird whose soft black-and-white head feathers and plain gray back make it a familiar year-round feeder visitor.
songbird
Australian Wood Duck
The Australian Wood Duck is a distinctive grazing duck, the male showing a dark chocolate-brown head with a low mane, often seen on pasture and grassland rather than open water.
waterfowl
Black-browed Albatross
One of the most widespread and abundant albatrosses, readily identified by a bold dark stripe through the eye that gives it a permanently stern, 'browed' expression.
seabird
Australian Pelican
The Australian Pelican is a huge, mostly white waterbird with black flight feathers and an enormous pink bill and throat pouch, a familiar sight on lakes, rivers, and coasts.
waterfowl
Black-billed Magpie
A boldly patterned black-and-white corvid of the American West, instantly recognizable by its long, iridescent tail and noisy, sociable habits.
corvid
Australian Masked Owl
A large, variably colored barn-owl relative of Australian forests, ranging from pale to dark rufous, with a distinctive heart-shaped facial disc and fine spotting on its feathers.
owl
Barbary Falcon
A desert-adapted relative of the Peregrine Falcon, paler and more rufous-toned, occupying arid cliffs and open desert from North Africa across the Middle East.
raptor
Australian Magpie
A boldly patterned black-and-white Australian songbird famous for its rich, warbling carol and confident presence in parks and farmland.
corvid
Band-tailed Pigeon
A large forest pigeon of the western mountains, identified by a crescent-shaped white patch on the nape and a broad pale band across the tip of an otherwise dark tail.
dove pigeon
Barred Forest Falcon
A secretive Neotropical raptor of the forest understory, known for its loud repeated dawn calls and short, rounded wings built for chasing prey through dense vegetation.
raptor
Australasian Gannet
A large white seabird with black wingtips and a warm yellow head wash, known for spectacular high-speed plunge-dives into the ocean.
seabird
Baird's Sandpiper
A long-winged, buff-toned sandpiper whose folded wingtips extend noticeably past the tail, giving it an elongated, tapered silhouette.
shorebird
Audubon's Oriole
A secretive oriole of dense riparian thickets, showing a solid black hood and wings against a yellow body, and best known for its slow, deliberate whistled song.
songbird
Azure Jay
A richly blue-bodied jay of South America's Atlantic Forest, with a black head and breast that sharply set off its azure plumage.
corvid
Atlantic Puffin
A small, tuxedo-patterned seabird famous for its large, brightly colored bill in the breeding season, spending most of the year far out at sea before returning to nest on coastal cliffs and islands.
seabird
Bank Swallow
A small, plain brown-and-white swallow told from other species by a clean brown breast band across otherwise white underparts.
songbird
Atlantic Canary
The wild ancestor of the domestic canary, a streaky yellow-green island finch native to the Canary Islands, Azores, and Madeira.
songbird
Bare-eyed Cockatoo
A small white cockatoo with an inconspicuous crest and distinctive bare bluish-white skin encircling the eye.
parrot
Asian Rosy-Finch
An alpine finch of Siberia, Kamchatka, and Japan's high mountains, showing brown body plumage, a variable grey head patch, and pink-washed wings.
songbird
Barbary Partridge
A North African partridge distinguished from its close relatives by a chestnut necklace speckled with white spots rather than a solid black gorget.
gamebird
Ash-throated Flycatcher
A pale desert-country flycatcher with an ashy-gray throat, soft yellow belly wash, and a rufous tail that flashes when it flies.
songbird
Bamboo Partridge
A grayish-brown East Asian partridge marked by a warm chestnut face and throat patch, favoring dense bamboo and scrub cover.
gamebird
Andean Siskin
A modestly plumaged high-Andean finch with streaky brown-olive feathering, adapted to cold paramo grasslands rather than showy display.
songbird
Baya Weaver
A social South and Southeast Asian weaverbird famed for its hanging retort-shaped nests, breeding males showing a bright yellow crown against a buffy-brown body.
songbird
Andean Flicker
A high-altitude flicker of the Andes that has largely abandoned trees, foraging and nesting on open ground and earthen banks.
woodpecker
Barred Owl
A large, round-headed owl of eastern North American forests, known for its dark eyes and the distinctive combination of horizontal chest barring and vertical belly streaking on its plumage.
owl
Andean Emerald
A clean-looking Andean hummingbird combining a glittering green throat and back with notably pale, whitish underparts and a tail showing a blue tinge.
hummingbird
Barnacle Goose
A small, sharply patterned goose with a bold black-and-white face and finely barred silver-gray flanks, breeding on Arctic cliffs and wintering on coastal grassland.
waterfowl
Barn Swallow
The classic long-tailed swallow of barns and bridges, with glossy steel-blue upperparts, a rusty throat, and elongated outer tail feathers tipped with white spots.
songbird
Andean Cock-of-the-rock
A dazzling orange songbird of Andean cloud forest, males display a flattened, half-moon crest that nearly conceals the bill, gathering at communal leks to court females.
songbird
Andean Flamingo
A high-altitude Andean flamingo distinguished by yellow legs and a black tail contrasting with pale pink body plumage.
wading bird
Australasian Swamphen
The Australasian Swamphen is a large, deep blue-purple rail with a red bill and shield, a familiar sight striding through wetlands and adjacent grassy areas.
wading bird
American Woodcock
A round, forest-dwelling shorebird with dead-leaf camouflage plumage, an oversized bill, and unusually short, rounded wings that produce a distinctive twittering whistle in flight.
shorebird
Asian Openbill
A medium-sized South and Southeast Asian stork named for the distinctive gap between its upper and lower mandibles, an adaptation for handling its favored prey, with greyish-white plumage and black flight feathers.
wading bird
American White Pelican
A massive, brilliant white pelican with strikingly black flight feathers visible in flight, one of the largest birds in North America.
seabird