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.

Barn Owl
An elegant, heart-faced owl whose golden, finely speckled upperparts and ghostly pale underside make its feathers instantly distinctive among owls.
owl
Chihuahuan Raven
A desert raven of the American Southwest, smaller than the Common Raven, with hidden white feather bases at the neck.
corvid
Pied Crow
A striking black crow of sub-Saharan Africa, instantly recognizable by its bold white breast and neck collar.
corvid
Royal Spoonbill
A white spoonbill of Australasia known for the long, trailing white crest plumes that breeding adults grow from the back of the head.
wading bird
Metallic Pigeon
The Metallic Pigeon is a dark island pigeon named for the glossy green-and-purple iridescent sheen across its neck feathers, often paired with a contrasting white throat.
dove pigeon
African Spoonbill
An all-white African wading bird with a red face and legs, identified by its plain white plumage and grey spoon-shaped bill without a crest.
wading bird
Bulwer's Pheasant
A Bornean forest pheasant with glossy blue-black plumage, an extraordinary curved white tail, and bright red facial wattles that expand dramatically during display.
gamebird
Eurasian Hoopoe
An unmistakable bird with a fan-shaped crest and bold black-and-white barred wings, probing the ground with a long curved bill.
other
Giant Kingfisher
Africa's largest kingfisher, a bulky black-and-white bird with a shaggy crest, hunting fish along forested rivers and rocky streams.
other
Olive-sided Flycatcher
A large-headed, big-chested flycatcher whose dark olive-gray flanks and white central stripe create a distinctive vest-like appearance.
songbird
Robust Woodpecker
A large, striking woodpecker of the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, marked by a prominent red crest and bold black-and-white pattern.
woodpecker
Edwards's Pheasant
A rare, glossy dark blue-black pheasant native to the forests of central Vietnam, marked by a short white crest and vivid red facial skin.
gamebird
Hooded Merganser
The Hooded Merganser is a small, richly patterned fish-eating duck whose male displays a spectacular fan-shaped white crest bordered in black.
waterfowl
Pileated Woodpecker
The largest common North American woodpecker, unmistakable for its crow-like size, deep black body, flaming red crest, and bold white neck stripes.
woodpecker
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
A striking pheasant of dense mountain thickets in southwestern China, with males showing a black-and-white scaled cape, a red crest, and one of the longest tails of any pheasant.
gamebird
Philippine Eagle
The Philippine Eagle is a huge, critically endangered forest eagle with brown upperparts, creamy-white underparts, and a shaggy crest of long brown-and-cream feathers that it raises when alert.
raptor
Ornate Hawk-Eagle
A powerful Neotropical forest raptor with a bold black crest, rufous cheeks and neck, and crisp black-and-white barring across the underparts, built for hunting within the forest canopy.
raptor
Spinifex Pigeon
A small, richly reddish pigeon of Australia's spinifex deserts, sporting a pointed crest and bold black-and-white facial markings that stand out against its cinnamon plumage.
dove pigeon
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
Greater Yellownape
A large, uniformly olive-green woodpecker of Asian forests, best recognized by its shaggy yellow nape crest rather than the black-and-white patterning typical of pied woodpeckers.
woodpecker
Scaled Quail
A pale, scaly-plumaged quail of arid grassland in the southwestern United States and Mexico, easily recognized by its overall bluish-gray tone and a fluffy white crest sometimes called a cottontop.
gamebird
Coal Tit
The smallest common European tit, with a black head, white cheeks, and a distinctive white patch on the nape, paired with buff underparts and two white wingbars on grey-olive wings.
songbird
Eastern Kingbird
A bold, dark-backed flycatcher with clean white underparts and a distinctive white terminal band across an otherwise black tail.
songbird
Great Cormorant
A large, glossy black cormorant with a white throat patch and, during the breeding season, a striking white patch on each flank.
seabird