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.
White-faced Scops Owl
The White-faced Scops Owl is an African savanna owl instantly recognized by its pale grey plumage, striking white facial disc rimmed in black, and long ear tufts, and known for a dramatic threat display.
owl
Southern White-faced Owl
A small grey African owl with a strikingly white facial disc rimmed in black and small ear tufts, known for dramatic threat and concealment postures.
owl
Puerto Rican Screech-Owl
The Puerto Rican Screech-Owl, locally known as the mucaro, is a small island-endemic owl with soft reddish-brown or grey-brown plumage and a rounded, nearly tuftless head.
owl
Northern Long-eared Owl
The Northern Long-eared Owl is the North American form of the Long-eared Owl, a slender, cryptically patterned owl with long, closely-set ear tufts that roosts communally in dense conifers.
owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
One of the smallest owls in North America, with soft reddish-brown, white-streaked plumage, no ear tufts, and a distinctive whitish facial disc bordered by a dark rim.
owl
Wandering Albatross
The largest of all flying birds by wingspan, an immense white seabird of the Southern Ocean whose plumage whitens progressively with age over many years.
seabird
Snow Goose
An abundant white goose with crisp black wingtips, occurring in a darker "blue" morph as well, that breeds on Arctic tundra and winters in enormous flocks on farmland and marshes.
waterfowl
Snow Partridge
A high-alpine Himalayan partridge whose entire plumage is finely barred in gray, black, white, and chestnut, blending seamlessly into rocky, snow-patched terrain.
gamebird
Snow Pigeon
The Snow Pigeon is a high-altitude Himalayan pigeon with a bold white head, underparts, and rump contrasting against grey-brown wings and a dark breast band.
dove pigeon
Snow Bunting
The Snow Bunting is a hardy Arctic songbird whose breeding males become strikingly white and black, while winter birds show warmer buff-brown tones as they flock over open fields and shorelines farther south.
songbird
Kakapo
A large, flightless, nocturnal parrot with soft, moss-green plumage patterned for camouflage on the forest floor.
parrot
Kentish Plover
A small, pale Old World plover of sandy and saline flats, closely resembling the Snowy Plover of the Americas, with dark side-breast patches rather than a complete band.
shorebird
American Tree Sparrow
A hardy winter sparrow of snowy fields, recognizable by its rufous cap and the single dark spot centered on an otherwise plain gray breast.
songbird
Morepork
New Zealand's small native owl, named for its call and known to Maori as ruru, with dark brown feathers mottled with pale buff spotting and streaked underparts.
owl
Collared Forest Falcon
A large, owl-faced Neotropical forest raptor with short rounded wings and a long barred tail, known for a dark neck collar and loud calls echoing through the forest at dawn and dusk.
raptor
Southern Boobook
Australia's most familiar and widespread owl, named for its distinctive 'boo-book' call, with dark brown feathers boldly spotted white above and streaked buff below.
owl
Eurasian Woodcock
The larger Eurasian relative of the American Woodcock, sharing the same dead-leaf camouflage pattern and forest-floor lifestyle, but with a grayer overall tone and a distinctive slow, owl-like display flight known as roding.
shorebird
Short-toed Snake Eagle
The Short-toed Snake Eagle is a pale-bellied Eurasian eagle with brown upperparts, a mottled brown breast, finely barred flight and tail feathers, and a large owl-like head adapted for scanning the ground for reptile prey.
raptor
Northern Harrier
The Northern Harrier, sometimes called the Marsh Hawk, is a slim, long-winged raptor of open grassland and marsh, known for its low, tilting flight, a distinctive white rump patch in all plumages, and an owl-like facial disc that helps it hear prey in the grass.
raptor
McKay's Bunting
McKay's Bunting is a rare, nearly all-white Arctic songbird breeding only on a few remote Bering Sea islands, closely related to and even whiter than the Snow Bunting.
songbird
Ross's Goose
The smallest white goose in North America, nearly identical in color to the Snow Goose but noticeably more compact, with a short neck and stubby bill.
waterfowl
Sword-billed Hummingbird
A remarkable Andean hummingbird whose straight bill is longer than its own body, an adaptation for feeding on especially long, tubular flowers.
hummingbird
Iberian Green Woodpecker
The Iberian Peninsula's counterpart to the Eurasian Green Woodpecker, recently recognized as its own species, sharing the same green plumage and strongly ground-feeding habits.
woodpecker