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.
Royal Spoonbill
A white spoonbill of Australasia known for the long, trailing white crest plumes that breeding adults grow from the back of the head.
wading bird
Long-billed Curlew
North America's largest shorebird, the Long-billed Curlew shows warm cinnamon-buff plumage and an extraordinarily long, downcurved bill, with feathers that echo the buffy tones of dry grassland.
shorebird
Alpine Chough
A glossy black mountain corvid with a short yellow bill, often seen soaring at very high altitudes near cliffs and mountain huts.
corvid
Chinese Grosbeak
A medium-sized East Asian finch with a black head, gray-brown body, and a bright yellow bill tipped in black, smaller and more widespread than its relative the Japanese Grosbeak.
songbird
Ring-necked Duck
A medium diving duck with a peaked head shape and a glossy black back, best distinguished from scaup by a white vertical spur at the base of the wing rather than a grey back.
waterfowl
White-throated Toucan
The White-throated Toucan is one of the largest Amazonian toucans, known for its oversized bicolored bill and bold white throat patch set against jet-black plumage. It moves through the rainforest canopy in noisy family groups, hopping between branches rather than flying long distances.
other
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
Sedge Wren
A tiny North American wren of wet sedge meadows, streaked above with a short indistinct eyebrow and a habit of cocking its short tail.
songbird
Snowy Egret
A small, energetic white heron of the Americas known for its black bill, black legs, and bright yellow feet.
wading bird
Chestnut-eared Aracari
A toucan relative of South American forests, with a huge cream-and-black bill, a chestnut patch behind the eye, and yellow underparts crossed by a bold red-and-black band.
other
Semipalmated Sandpiper
A small, plain-plumaged sandpiper with a short, straight, stubby bill and black legs, among the most abundant shorebirds of eastern North America.
shorebird
Downy Woodpecker
The smallest North American woodpecker, its black-and-white checkered feathers and short bill make it a common and easily identified backyard bird.
woodpecker
Common Scoter
The Common Scoter is the Eurasian counterpart of the Black Scoter, a sea duck whose breeding male is entirely black apart from a yellow-orange patch along the ridge of the bill.
waterfowl
Melodious Blackbird
An all-black songbird of Mexico and Central America, notable for its subtly glossy plumage, stout bill, and rich duetting song delivered in pairs.
songbird
Semipalmated Plover
A small, compact North American plover with a single black breast band and orange-based bill, closely resembling the Old World Common Ringed Plover.
shorebird
Crested Oropendola
A large, glossy black oropendola with a bright yellow tail, a pale ivory bill, and a small feathered crest, widespread across lowland forests of South America.
songbird
Hooded Siskin
A small South American finch whose male sports a jet-black hood set off by bright yellow underparts and wing flashes.
songbird
White-winged Grosbeak
A large, powerfully billed Himalayan finch, the male showing mostly black plumage set off by a yellow rump and a bold white wing patch.
songbird
Nanday Conure
A green South American conure easily told by its solid black head, or hood, along with a small blue patch on the breast and red-feathered thighs.
parrot
Jungle Crow
A robust, all-black crow of the Indian subcontinent, closely related to the Large-billed Crow but generally found in more southerly regions.
corvid
Cape Crow
A slender, all-black crow of southern and eastern Africa's open grasslands, notable for its long, thin bill.
corvid
Japanese Grosbeak
A large, heavy-billed finch of East Asian forests, recognized by its black head, gray-brown body, and oversized pale-yellow bill.
songbird
Trumpeter Swan
The heaviest native North American bird and largest swan, entirely white with a solid black bill, sometimes showing a rust-stained head from iron-rich feeding grounds.
waterfowl
Ultramarine Grosbeak
A South American forest-edge songbird, the male Ultramarine Grosbeak is deep blue overall with a notably stout, silvery bill.
songbird