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.
Varied Bunting
A small desert bunting whose male plumage looks nearly black in shade but reveals shifting purple, blue, and reddish tones in good light.
songbird
Intermediate Egret
A medium-sized all-white egret of Asia, Africa, and Australia, best told apart from its larger and smaller relatives by bill proportions and the extent of bare skin around the eye.
wading bird
African Sacred Ibis
An African wading bird with white plumage, a bare black head and neck, and loose black plumes on the lower back, historically revered in ancient Egypt and now also established as an introduced species in parts of Europe and North America.
wading bird
Little Egret
A dainty white heron of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, best known for its black legs and bright yellow feet.
wading bird
Indian Peacock-Pheasant
A forest-floor gamebird of South and Southeast Asia whose grayish-brown plumage is studded with dozens of shimmering blue-green eyespots across the wings and long tail.
gamebird
Gray Peacock-pheasant
A forest-floor pheasant of South and Southeast Asia whose gray-brown feathers are dotted with brilliant blue-green and purple eyespots, most striking across the spread tail.
gamebird
Shikra
A small, agile hawk of Africa and Asia resembling a miniature goshawk, identified by blue-gray upperparts and finely rufous-barred underparts.
raptor
Common Green Pigeon
The Common Green Pigeon is a widespread South Asian pigeon combining yellowish-green plumage with a grey mantle and bright yellow legs.
dove pigeon
Plum-headed Parakeet
A small South Asian parakeet whose green body is topped by a distinctively colored head, plum-pink in males and soft grey-blue in females, each bordered by a fine neck ring.
parrot
Kalij Pheasant
A forest pheasant of the Himalayan foothills and South Asia, with males showing overall glossy blue-black plumage and red facial skin, and considerable variation in pale scaling among subspecies.
gamebird
Gilded Flicker
A desert flicker of the Southwest that nests almost exclusively in saguaro cacti and flashes golden-yellow underwings in flight.
woodpecker
African Collared-Dove
A pale, sandy-toned dove of African savanna and scrub, best known as the wild ancestor of the domesticated ring-necked dove.
dove pigeon
Cocoi Heron
The South American counterpart to the Great Blue Heron, with a bold black cap and crisp white neck.
wading bird
Snowy Egret
A small, energetic white heron of the Americas known for its black bill, black legs, and bright yellow feet.
wading bird
Brown Wood Owl
The Brown Wood Owl is a large, dark forest owl of South and Southeast Asia known for its rich chocolate-brown plumage and heavily barred underparts.
owl
Rufous Woodpecker
An unusually uniform rufous-brown woodpecker of South and Southeast Asia, best known for nesting inside the arboreal nests of tree ants.
woodpecker
Black-headed Mountain Finch
A high-altitude finch of the Himalayas and Central Asian ranges, known for its blackish head and body offset by rosy-pink wing feathers.
songbird
Black-capped Lory
The Black-capped Lory is a vividly red New Guinea parrot topped with a solid black cap and accented by blue patches on the nape and thighs.
parrot
Australasian Gannet
A large white seabird with black wingtips and a warm yellow head wash, known for spectacular high-speed plunge-dives into the ocean.
seabird
Peaceful Dove
A small, gentle Australian dove with fine dark barring across the neck and breast and a soft, pale blue ring around the eye.
dove pigeon
Eurasian Scops Owl
The Eurasian Scops Owl is a small, migratory owl of southern Europe and parts of Asia, known for its cryptic bark-patterned plumage and a monotonous, far-carrying whistled call.
owl
Pacific Parrotlet
The Pacific Parrotlet is one of the smallest parrots, a compact green bird from western South America in which males show patches of blue on the wings and rump.
parrot
Nanday Conure
A green South American conure easily told by its solid black head, or hood, along with a small blue patch on the breast and red-feathered thighs.
parrot
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