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.
Broad-winged Hawk
The Broad-winged Hawk is a compact, forest-nesting buteo with rufous-barred underparts and a short tail marked by bold, wide black-and-white bands, famous for gathering in enormous migrating flocks called 'kettles.'
raptor
Papuan Hawk-Owl
A little-known, long-tailed forest owl endemic to New Guinea, with a hawk-like reduced facial disc and boldly barred underparts.
owl
Zone-tailed Hawk
A blackish hawk that closely mimics the flight silhouette and dark coloring of the Turkey Vulture, distinguished mainly by its banded tail feathers.
raptor
Northern Hawk-Owl
A falcon-like, day-hunting owl of the boreal forest, with a long tail, pointed wings, and boldly barred underparts, often seen perched conspicuously atop treetops scanning for prey.
owl
Common Black Hawk
A stocky, broad-winged hawk of wooded streams and mangroves, easily told from other dark raptors by its nearly all-black plumage crossed by a single wide white tail band.
raptor
Black-collared Hawk
A striking rufous-orange wetland hawk of the Neotropics, immediately recognizable by its pale creamy head and the narrow black band crossing its upper chest.
raptor
African Harrier-Hawk
A distinctive gray African raptor known for its bare, color-changing facial skin and unusually flexible double-jointed legs, used to probe tree holes and nests for prey.
raptor
Black-winged Kite
The Old World counterpart of the White-tailed Kite, a small pale gray-and-white raptor with a black shoulder patch and striking red eyes.
raptor
Hahn's Macaw
The smallest macaw species, mostly green with a small blue forehead patch and a red patch at the bend of the wing.
parrot
White-tailed Kite
A pale, falcon-shaped kite known for hovering over open fields, with soft gray-and-white feathers and a distinctive black shoulder patch.
raptor
Reed Bunting
The Reed Bunting is a wetland-associated songbird whose breeding males show a striking black head and white collar against streaked brown upperparts, while females and winter birds are more subtly patterned brown.
songbird
Jardine's Parrot
Jardine's Parrot is a stocky African forest parrot whose green feathers are neatly edged in black, giving a scaled texture, accented by orange-red patches on the head and shoulders.
parrot
Redhead
A medium-large diving duck with a rounded reddish-chestnut head, distinguished from the similar Canvasback by its rounder head shape and darker grey body.
waterfowl
Redwing
The smallest widespread European thrush, easily told from its relatives by streaked (rather than spotted) underparts and bright reddish-orange flank and underwing feathers.
songbird
Brown Falcon
The Brown Falcon is a common and highly variable Australian falcon with broader, more buzzard-like proportions than most falcons, ranging in tone from dark chocolate-brown to pale cream morphs.
raptor
Booted Eagle
A small, buzzard-sized eagle occurring in two distinct color forms, both showing feathered legs down to the toes and pale patches at the base of the primaries in flight.
raptor
Common Redpoll
A small, hardy northern finch with a red cap and black chin, known for irruptive winter movements into temperate regions at feeders.
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
Reddish Egret
A distinctive coastal heron known for its shaggy, reddish head and neck plumage and its animated, dancing foraging behavior.
wading bird
Hoary Redpoll
A pale, frosty-looking northern finch closely related to the Common Redpoll, breeding at even higher latitudes across the Arctic.
songbird
Vermilion Cardinal
A cardinal of the dry Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela, with males cloaked almost entirely in brilliant red plumage and a prominent crest.
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
Black Redstart
The Black Redstart is a small songbird easily identified by its constantly quivering, bright rufous-orange tail set against sooty gray or brown body plumage, often seen on rocky ledges and buildings.
songbird
Common Redshank
A vocal, alert wader with bright orange-red legs and a bold white trailing edge to the wing that flashes conspicuously in flight.
shorebird