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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.

Griffon Vulture

Griffon Vulture

A large Old World vulture with warm tawny-brown body feathers, contrasting dark flight feathers, and a distinctive white downy ruff at the base of the neck.

raptor
Pacific Screech-Owl

Pacific Screech-Owl

A small eared owl of Pacific lowland Central America, with greyish-brown streaked plumage and pale eyebrows meeting above the bill.

owl
Eurasian Blackcap

Eurasian Blackcap

A plain grey-brown warbler whose crown feathers immediately reveal its sex: solid glossy black in males, warm reddish-brown in females and juveniles.

songbird
Eastern Imperial Eagle

Eastern Imperial Eagle

A large steppe eagle recognized by small white patches on the shoulders (scapulars) contrasting with otherwise dark brown plumage and a pale, creamy nape.

raptor
Chestnut-fronted Macaw

Chestnut-fronted Macaw

A small green macaw with a brown forehead patch and a red-and-green shoulder patch, found in lowland forests across northern South America.

parrot
Buffy Fish Owl

Buffy Fish Owl

A warm buffy-brown fish-hunting owl of Southeast Asian lowland waterways, streaked with darker brown and equipped with bristly, sparsely feathered feet for gripping slippery prey.

owl
Chihuahuan Raven

Chihuahuan Raven

A desert raven of the American Southwest, smaller than the Common Raven, with hidden white feather bases at the neck.

corvid
Tambourine Dove

Tambourine Dove

The Tambourine Dove is a small forest dove with a strikingly white face and underparts set against brown upperparts marked with dark wing spots.

dove pigeon
Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

The Old World counterpart to the Spotted Sandpiper, this small brown-and-white shorebird constantly bobs its tail as it forages along freshwater edges.

shorebird
Red Collared-Dove

Red Collared-Dove

A small Asian dove with pronounced sexual dimorphism, the male showing a rich wine-red body while the female is a much duller grayish-brown.

dove pigeon
Fire-fronted Serin

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
Whistling Kite

Whistling Kite

A common, pale kite of Australia and New Guinea best known for its far-carrying whistled call, with buff-brown body feathers contrasting against darker flight feathers in flight.

raptor
Balsas Screech-Owl

Balsas Screech-Owl

A little-known small owl endemic to Mexico's Balsas River basin, with subdued grey-brown, finely vermiculated plumage suited to dry tropical forest.

owl
Blue Ground Dove

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 Ringed Plover

Common Ringed Plover

The Eurasian counterpart to the Semipalmated Plover, a small brown-and-white plover with a single black breast band, breeding across the Arctic and temperate coasts of the Old World.

shorebird
Lappet-faced Vulture

Lappet-faced Vulture

The largest vulture in Africa, with powerful build, mostly dark brown-black plumage, and a patch of contrasting white feathers on the thighs.

raptor
Blue-throated Macaw

Blue-throated Macaw

A large blue-and-yellow macaw with a distinctive patch of blue feathers on the throat, native to a small area of seasonally flooded savanna in Bolivia.

parrot
Vermilion Flycatcher

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
Green-cheeked Conure

Green-cheeked Conure

A small, compact South American conure with green cheeks, a grey-brown crown, and a distinctive maroon-red tail contrasting with its mostly green body.

parrot
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

A small, widespread Asian woodpecker with a grey-brown crown and crisply barred back, closely resembling other pygmy woodpeckers across its broad range.

woodpecker
Common Murre

Common Murre

A slender, upright seabird resembling a small penguin in posture, with chocolate-brown upperparts and clean white underparts, breeding in dense colonies on narrow sea cliffs.

seabird
Common Buzzard

Common Buzzard

The Common Buzzard is a medium-large soaring raptor with broad, fingered wing feathers and a highly variable brown plumage, ranging from very dark to pale, that makes each individual's feathers somewhat distinct.

raptor
Buff-fronted Owl

Buff-fronted Owl

The Buff-fronted Owl is a small South American forest owl with a striking contrast between its dark brown upperparts and warm buffy-orange face and underparts.

owl
Boreal Owl

Boreal Owl

A small, secretive owl of northern boreal and subalpine conifer forests, marked by dark brown plumage boldly spotted with white and a distinctive dark-rimmed facial disc.

owl