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.
Pyrrhuloxia
A desert relative of the Northern Cardinal, the Pyrrhuloxia is soft gray overall with splashes of red on the crest, face, and underparts, plus a distinctive stubby yellow bill.
songbird
Carunculated Caracara
A northern Andean caracara with a black head and upperparts contrasting against a clean white breast and belly, named for the fleshy yellow-orange caruncles on its face.
raptor
Violet Sabrewing
A large, deep violet Central American hummingbird named for the thickened, curved shafts of its outer primary feathers, a structural feature unique to sabrewing hummingbirds.
hummingbird
Evening Grosbeak
A large, boldly patterned finch of northern and montane conifer forests, males showing a striking combination of black, bright yellow, and white feathers along with an oversized pale bill.
songbird
Variable Sunbird
A small, widespread African sunbird whose plumage pattern varies geographically, generally showing an iridescent green or blue-green throat and yellow underparts in males.
songbird
Booted Racket-tail
A tiny Andean hummingbird best known for its puffy white leg feathers and, in males, a pair of long bare tail shafts ending in small dark paddle-shaped tips.
hummingbird
Emu
Australia's largest bird, the Emu has loose, hair-like feathers that grow in pairs from a single shaft, giving its plumage a shaggy, fur-like texture unlike any flying bird.
other
Tropical Parula
A tiny blue-gray and yellow warbler of the far southern U.S. and Latin America, easily told from its northern cousin by its unbroken olive back patch and lack of white eye crescents.
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
Collared Aracari
The Collared Aracari is a mid-sized toucan with bright yellow underparts crossed by a dark belt of spots, plus a narrow chestnut collar across the nape. It ranges through Central American and northern South American forests in small, active flocks.
other
Sulphur-crested Lesser Cockatoo
A smaller relative of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, white overall with a bright yellow crest and a subtle yellow tinge on the ear coverts.
parrot
Parrot Crossbill
A heavy-billed northern finch specialized on pine cones, the largest of the crossbills with a correspondingly massive, deep bill.
songbird
Tristram's Bunting
An East Asian bunting with a bold black-and-white striped head and a chestnut breast band, breeding in northern forests.
songbird
Red-crowned Woodpecker
A small, widespread woodpecker of northern South America with a barred black-and-white back and a bright red crown on males.
woodpecker
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
Blue-winged Kookaburra
A northern relative of the Laughing Kookaburra, distinguished by more extensive blue in the wings and a harsher, less musical call.
other
Cape Gannet
A large white seabird closely related to the Northern Gannet, distinguished by a black tail and a black band crossing the secondary flight feathers.
seabird
Pied Falconet
A strikingly pied falconet with clean black-and-white plumage and no rufous coloring at all, found across southern China and northern Southeast Asia.
raptor
Palm Warbler
A ground-foraging wood-warbler with a rufous cap in breeding plumage and constant tail-bobbing, breeding in northern bogs and wintering in the southeastern US.
songbird
Torresian Crow
A widespread crow of northern Australia and New Guinea, larger and more heavily built than the closely related Little Crow.
corvid
Hoary Redpoll
A pale, frosty-looking northern finch closely related to the Common Redpoll, breeding at even higher latitudes across the Arctic.
songbird
Black Woodpecker
The largest woodpecker across most of Europe and northern Asia, entirely black except for a red crown patch and a pale bill.
woodpecker
Philadelphia Vireo
The Philadelphia Vireo is a small, plain-plumaged vireo of northern woodlands, often confused with the Warbling Vireo and Tennessee Warbler due to its subtle coloring.
songbird
European Golden Plover
The Old World golden plover of moorland and tundra, showing bold gold-spangled upperparts and, in northern breeders, black underparts bordered by a white band.
shorebird