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.
Yellow-browed Bunting
A Siberian-breeding bunting recognized by its yellow-tinged eyebrow stripe fading to white toward the back of the head.
songbird
Black-browed Albatross
One of the most widespread and abundant albatrosses, readily identified by a bold dark stripe through the eye that gives it a permanently stern, 'browed' expression.
seabird
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Common Redstart
The Common Redstart is a small songbird named for its bright rufous-red tail feathers, which it constantly quivers, contrasting with a slate-grey back and black face in breeding males.
songbird
Painted Redstart
A boldly patterned black warbler with a bright red breast patch and large white patches on the wings and outer tail, constantly fanning its tail while foraging.
songbird
Spotted Redshank
A striking wader that turns almost entirely sooty black with fine white spots in breeding plumage, transforming to pale gray in winter.
shorebird
American Redstart
An active wood-warbler that flashes bright orange or yellow patches on its wings and tail while fanning them to startle insects into flight.
songbird
Meyer's Parrot
Meyer's Parrot is a small, subtly colored African parrot with a brownish-grey body offset by a turquoise belly and yellow shoulder patches.
parrot
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
Bronzed Cowbird
A stocky blackbird relative with a bronze-black sheen, red eyes, and a distinctive neck ruff, found from the southwestern United States south to Panama.
songbird
Dunlin
A common small sandpiper whose breeding plumage features a bold black belly patch found on no other similarly sized shorebird.
shorebird
Slate-throated Redstart
The Slate-throated Redstart is a highland forest warbler known for its slate-gray plumage, reddish belly, and habit of fanning white-edged tail feathers while foraging.
songbird
Fire-fronted Serin
A small mountain finch identified by its glowing orange-red forehead patch set against an otherwise black head and streaked brown body.
songbird
Scarlet Macaw
A vividly colored large macaw with a scarlet-red body, bold yellow-and-blue wing patches, and a long red tail tipped in blue, ranging across lowland tropical forest from Mexico to South America.
parrot
Brahminy Kite
A handsome coastal raptor with a crisp white head and breast set against warm chestnut wings and body, common along tropical shorelines of Asia and Australia.
raptor