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.
Nuttall's Woodpecker
A small woodpecker largely restricted to California oak woodlands, similar to Ladder-backed Woodpecker but with cleaner white underparts and a solid black nape band.
woodpecker
White-breasted Nuthatch
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a tree-climbing songbird whose clean blue-gray back and pure white face and breast feathers are easy to separate from most other backyard species.
songbird
Northern Royal Albatross
One of the largest albatrosses, a mostly white southern seabird with a predominantly black upperwing edged in white, closely related to the Wandering Albatross group.
seabird
Black-crowned Night Heron
A stocky, short-necked heron with striking red eyes, most active at dusk and night, sporting a glossy black cap and back against pale gray wings.
wading bird
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
A brilliant pink bee-eater of the African Sahel, closely resembling its southern counterpart but with a green crown rather than blue.
other
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
A stocky, thick-billed night heron with a bold black-and-white head pattern and a pale, straw-colored crown, often found near crustacean-rich coastal waters.
wading bird
Grey Crowned Night Heron
A secretive, forest-dwelling night heron of South and Southeast Asia, cloaked in warm chestnut-rufous plumage with a blackish crown and short nape crest.
wading bird
Northern Crested Caracara
A bold, ground-foraging raptor found from the southern United States through Central America, showing a black cap, cream barred neck, and dark body much like its southern relative the Crested Caracara.
raptor
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
A plain brown swallow similar to Bank Swallow but lacking a sharp breast band, instead showing a soft, diffuse brownish wash across the throat.
songbird
Northern Red-billed Hornbill
The Northern Red-billed Hornbill is a slender African savanna hornbill with spotted black-and-white upperparts, white underparts, and a long, slim red bill. It typically forages on open ground in small, active family groups.
other
Northern Grey-headed Woodpecker
A West and Central African woodpecker with a grey head contrasting against an olive-green back, part of a wider grey-headed woodpecker complex found across the continent.
woodpecker
Golden Pheasant Ring-necked Cross
An ornamental strain combining the fiery golden-yellow crest and cape of the Golden Pheasant with ring-necked pheasant influence, widely kept in aviculture for its dazzling plumage.
gamebird
House Bunting
A North African bunting closely tied to human settlements, often seen around village buildings, walls, and oases.
songbird
Spotted Eagle-Owl
A common, adaptable eagle-owl of African savanna and rocky country, mottled grayish-brown with bold dark spotting, often seen roosting near human settlements.
owl
Black Kite
The Black Kite is a widespread Old World raptor with dull dark brown plumage, a slightly forked tail, and finely barred flight feathers, notable for its adaptability to human-altered landscapes including cities and rubbish sites.
raptor
Smew
The Smew is a small, striking Eurasian merganser whose male appears almost entirely white, marked with a bold black eye patch and delicate black lines along the back and flanks.
waterfowl
Egyptian Goose
A pale buff-brown African waterfowl, more closely related to shelducks than true geese, marked by a dark chestnut eye patch, a chestnut breast smudge, and a bold white wing patch bordered in iridescent green.
waterfowl
Painted Bunting
Often called the most colorful songbird in North America, the male Painted Bunting shows a blue head, red underparts, and green back all on the same bird, while females are a uniform bright green.
songbird
Lappet-faced Vulture
The largest vulture in Africa, with powerful build, mostly dark brown-black plumage, and a patch of contrasting white feathers on the thighs.
raptor
Common Raven
One of the largest songbirds in the world, the Common Raven produces long, heavy, glossy-black feathers with a pronounced iridescent sheen and a distinctive wedge-shaped tail profile.
corvid
Kakapo
A large, flightless, nocturnal parrot with soft, moss-green plumage patterned for camouflage on the forest floor.
parrot
Bullock's Oriole
The western counterpart to the Baltimore Oriole, identified by its orange cheeks, black eyeline and throat stripe, and an unusually large white wing patch.
songbird
Dark-breasted Rosefinch
An unusually plain rosefinch, lacking the streaking typical of the group, with a dusky rosy-brown body and only a subtle pink wash.
songbird
Kaka
A large forest parrot of New Zealand, the Kaka has olive-brown plumage that conceals a flash of bright crimson under the wings and across the rump, revealed in flight.
parrot