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.
Bee Hummingbird
The smallest bird species on Earth, native only to Cuba, with breeding males showing a fiery, iridescent pink-red head and throat over a tiny bluish-green body.
hummingbird
Rufous-legged Owl
The Rufous-legged Owl is a temperate-forest owl of Chile and Argentina named for the warm rufous feathering that covers its legs down to the toes.
owl
Dwarf Cassowary
The smallest of the three cassowary species, this flightless New Guinea rainforest bird has coarse, hair-like black plumage and blue bare skin on the face and neck. It lacks the throat wattles of its larger relatives and has a low, modest casque.
other
King Quail
One of the smallest quail species in the world, with males showing a smart slate-blue breast and a bold black-and-white barred throat.
gamebird
Plain Pigeon
A large, plainly colored Caribbean pigeon that reveals a white wing patch in flight, a species of conservation concern on several islands.
dove pigeon
Little Spotted Kiwi
The smallest kiwi species, this flightless bird has pale grayish, finely mottled plumage and now survives only on predator-free islands and fenced sanctuaries in New Zealand. Its long, sensitive bill helps it find invertebrate prey at night.
other
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
Diamond Dove
One of the smallest doves in the world, a soft gray-brown Australian desert species with tiny white-spotted wings and a bright red ring around the eye.
dove pigeon
Great Slaty Woodpecker
The largest living woodpecker species, a huge slate-grey bird of South and Southeast Asian forests that typically travels in noisy family parties.
woodpecker
Eurasian Spoonbill
A tall, all-white wading bird with a distinctive spoon-shaped bill, recognized by its clean white plumage and, in breeding season, a shaggy nape crest and pale yellow breast band.
wading bird
Tricolored Heron
A slender dark heron of the Americas, easily told from other dark herons by the crisp white line running down its foreneck and belly.
wading bird
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
Pied Wagtail
The Pied Wagtail is a slender black-and-white songbird best known for its constantly pumping tail, with crisp black-and-white feathering that gives it a strongly contrasting, checkered appearance.
songbird
Whimbrel
A widespread curlew with a moderately long, downcurved bill and bold dark stripes on the crown, the Whimbrel shows grayish-brown feathers with fine barring adapted for camouflage on tundra and mudflats alike.
shorebird
Green Pheasant
Japan's national bird, a close relative of the Common Pheasant with males showing overall iridescent green body plumage rather than the more typical coppery tones of related species.
gamebird
Lineated Woodpecker
A widespread Neotropical woodpecker with a shaggy red crest and bold white stripes running down the sides of its neck, common in forest edge habitats from Mexico to northern Argentina.
woodpecker
Bohemian Waxwing
A sleek, crested songbird best known for the bright red, wax-like tips on its wing feathers, which give the species its name.
songbird
Demoiselle Crane
The smallest of the world's cranes, a blue-grey bird with a black head and breast set off by long, drooping white ear-tuft plumes trailing behind the eyes.
wading bird
Barn Owl
An elegant, heart-faced owl whose golden, finely speckled upperparts and ghostly pale underside make its feathers instantly distinctive among owls.
owl
Passenger Pigeon
Once among the most numerous birds in North America, the Passenger Pigeon was a slender, fast-flying species with a long pointed tail and iridescent neck patch, driven to extinction by the early 1900s.
dove pigeon
Eurasian Nuthatch
The Eurasian Nuthatch is a stocky, tree-climbing songbird with slate-blue upperpart feathers and warm buff-orange underparts, plus short, stiff tail feathers adapted for headfirst descents down tree trunks.
songbird
Goldcrest
Europe's smallest bird, identifiable even from a single tiny feather by its vivid black-bordered crown stripe — orange in males, yellow in females — set against olive-green plumage.
songbird
Green Junglefowl
An Indonesian junglefowl covered in glossy, scale-patterned green-black feathers, with a rounded, multicolored comb unlike any other junglefowl species.
gamebird
Little Auk
The smallest auk of the North Atlantic, a dumpy, tightly packed little bird with a black-and-white pattern and a stubby bill, breeding in immense colonies in the high Arctic.
seabird