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.
Common Ostrich
The world's largest living bird, flightless with soft, loose plumage, males black-bodied with striking white plumes and females duller greyish-brown.
other
Magnificent Frigatebird
A large, aerial seabird with long angular wings and a deeply forked tail, glossy black in males and marked with a white breast patch in females.
seabird
Little Bittern
The Old World counterpart to the Least Bittern, a tiny, secretive marsh heron with a black cap and back in males and warmer brown tones in females.
wading bird
Red Crossbill
A stocky finch with a distinctively crossed bill adapted for prying seeds from conifer cones, males brick-red and females olive-toned.
songbird
Asian Koel
A vocal, sexually dimorphic cuckoo found across South and Southeast Asia, males glossy black and females brown with dense pale spotting.
other
Glaucous Gull
A massive, pale Arctic gull, the Glaucous Gull is unusual among large gulls for lacking black wingtips entirely, showing instead uniformly pale gray and white feathers well suited to its icy northern range.
seabird
Red-rumped Parrot
The Red-rumped Parrot is a grassland parrot of southeastern Australia in which males are bright green with a red rump patch, while females are a much duller olive.
parrot
Blue Ground Dove
A small, strikingly dimorphic dove-pale powder-blue in males, warm rufous-brown in females-both patterned with bold blackish spots across the wings.
dove pigeon
Common Rosefinch
A finch in which breeding males show a rosy-red head, breast, and rump, while females and immatures are plain streaked brown, sparrow-like birds.
songbird
Great Frigatebird
A large, soaring tropical seabird closely resembling the Magnificent Frigatebird, with glossy black males and females marked by a white breast patch and pale wing bar.
seabird
Eclectus Parrot
A parrot with extreme visual differences between the sexes: males are bright emerald green, while females are bright red with a blue-purple breast and belly.
parrot
Black Francolin
A boldly patterned gamebird with males showing black plumage dotted with white spots and a chestnut neck collar, while females are cryptically mottled brown.
gamebird
Lark Bunting
A North American prairie songbird whose breeding males turn nearly all black with a bold white wing patch, a striking contrast to the streaky brown females.
songbird
Andean Cock-of-the-rock
A dazzling orange songbird of Andean cloud forest, males display a flattened, half-moon crest that nearly conceals the bill, gathering at communal leks to court females.
songbird
Vermilion Flycatcher
A small flycatcher in which males show a strikingly brilliant red crown and underparts against dusky brown wings, while females are far more subdued.
songbird
Purple Martin
The largest North American swallow, with males showing an all-over glossy blue-black sheen and females a duller gray-brown, pale-bellied pattern.
songbird
European Pied Flycatcher
A small Old World flycatcher in which breeding males show bold black-and-white plumage, while females and nonbreeding males are softer brownish-gray.
songbird
Blue Grosbeak
A stocky North American bunting relative, the Blue Grosbeak shows deep blue plumage and chestnut wing bars in males, while females wear a warm, understated brown.
songbird
Red-breasted Meadowlark
A grassland songbird of South America, with males showing a striking bright red throat and breast against an otherwise black body, while females are cryptically streaked brown.
songbird
Paradise Shelduck
A large New Zealand duck with striking sex-based color difference, males dark and glossy while females show a bright white head and chestnut body.
waterfowl
Eurasian Blackbird
A familiar thrush of European gardens and woodland, with males entirely glossy black offset by a bright yellow-orange bill, while females are a more subdued dark brown.
songbird
Wood Duck
One of the most ornately feathered ducks in the world, with males showing an iridescent crested head and boldly patterned body, and females recognizable by a distinctive white teardrop eye patch.
waterfowl
Pallid Harrier
A slender, long-distance migrant harrier of the Eurasian steppe, the palest of the gray harriers, with males showing a narrow black wedge at the wingtip and females a streaky brown 'ringtail' pattern.
raptor
Grey-headed Lovebird
A small lovebird from Madagascar showing strong sexual dimorphism: males have a pale grey head and breast against a green body, while females are entirely green.
parrot