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.
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
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
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
Brown Pelican
A large, dark-bodied pelican of coastal waters, known for its spectacular plunge-diving and a head and neck that change color dramatically with the breeding season.
seabird
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
Brown Bullfinch
A drab, olive-brown bullfinch of Asian hill forests that lacks the bright colors of its relatives, identified mainly by its stubby bill and subtle wing bar.
songbird
Brown Thrasher
A large, rich rufous-brown songbird with heavily streaked underparts and a long tail, often heard singing elaborate phrases from a high perch.
songbird
Brown Noddy
A dark, tropical seabird related to terns, easily told by its uniform chocolate-brown plumage set off by a pale gray-white cap and a long, wedge-shaped tail.
seabird
Brown Kiwi
A flightless, nocturnal New Zealand bird with shaggy, hair-like feathers and a long probing bill used to find invertebrates in leaf litter.
other
Brown Jay
A large, plain brown jay of Mexico and Central America, lacking bright colors but notable for its size, loud calls, and whitish tail tip.
corvid
Brown Creeper
A tree-trunk specialist whose mottled brown and buff feathers mimic bark texture perfectly, paired with stiff, pointed tail feathers that brace against trunks like a woodpecker's.
songbird
Brown Booby
A widespread tropical seabird with a sharp, clean line dividing its dark chocolate-brown chest and upperparts from bright white underparts.
seabird
Southern Brown Kiwi
A flightless, nocturnal New Zealand bird covered in shaggy, hair-like brown plumage, with a long, flexible bill and nostrils at its tip used to sniff out prey in the soil. It is one of several closely related brown kiwi species found on the South Island and Stewart Island.
other
Brown-throated Sunbird
A widespread Southeast Asian sunbird with a plain brownish throat, yellow underparts, and a small iridescent purple-and-green shoulder patch.
songbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
A small blackbird best known for laying its eggs in other birds' nests, with males showing a sharply contrasting brown head against a glossy black body and females entirely plain gray-brown.
songbird
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
An unusually plain Neotropical woodpecker, lacking the bold barring or spotting typical of most relatives and instead showing an even smoky rufous-brown plumage.
woodpecker
Brown-necked Raven
A desert-adapted raven of North Africa and the Middle East, showing a subtle brownish tinge on the neck and back distinct from purer black ravens.
corvid
Brown-headed Nuthatch
The Brown-headed Nuthatch is a tiny southeastern pine specialist whose warm brown cap feathers, rather than black, set it apart from other nuthatches.
songbird
Brown-fronted Woodpecker
A small Himalayan woodpecker with a brown forehead patch and finely barred black-and-white back, sharing similarities with related pied woodpeckers at lower elevations.
woodpecker
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
An alpine finch restricted to the southern Rocky Mountains, showing a plain cinnamon-brown cap that lacks the grey crown patch of related rosy-finch species.
songbirdNorth Island Brown Kiwi
The most numerous kiwi species, this flightless, nocturnal bird of New Zealand's North Island has shaggy, reddish-brown, hair-like plumage and a long bill tipped with nostrils for locating prey by smell. It is a widely recognized national symbol of New Zealand.
other
Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker
One of the smallest South Asian woodpeckers, told from other pygmy woodpeckers mainly by its brownish, rather than blackish, crown.
woodpecker