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.
Great White Pelican
A massive white pelican with a subtle pinkish tinge, black flight feathers, and a tufted nape crest, found across freshwater and coastal wetlands of Africa and Eurasia.
seabird
Beautiful Sunbird
A savanna sunbird of sub-Saharan Africa whose breeding males combine an iridescent green head and back with a scarlet breast band and elongated tail feathers.
songbird
Ring-necked Dove
One of the most familiar doves across sub-Saharan Africa, soft grayish-brown overall with a neat black half-collar and a gentle, rhythmic call.
dove pigeon
Egyptian Goose
A pale buff-brown African waterfowl, more closely related to shelducks than true geese, marked by a dark chestnut eye patch, a chestnut breast smudge, and a bold white wing patch bordered in iridescent green.
waterfowl
White-faced Scops Owl
The White-faced Scops Owl is an African savanna owl instantly recognized by its pale grey plumage, striking white facial disc rimmed in black, and long ear tufts, and known for a dramatic threat display.
owl
Amur Falcon
The Amur Falcon is a small migratory falcon breeding in eastern Asia and famed for an enormous transoceanic migration to southern Africa, closely resembling the related Red-footed Falcon.
raptor
White Stork
A large, unmistakable white stork with black wing feathers and a bright red bill and legs, famous for its rooftop nests and long migrations between Europe and Africa.
wading bird
Wattled Crane
The largest crane in Africa, a grey wading bird with a black cap, striking white feathers hanging from the throat, and long fleshy wattles dangling below the face.
wading bird
Barbary Falcon
A desert-adapted relative of the Peregrine Falcon, paler and more rufous-toned, occupying arid cliffs and open desert from North Africa across the Middle East.
raptor
Red-necked Falcon
A striking small falcon with a bright chestnut crown and nape contrasting against a slate-grey back, favoring open country dotted with palms across Africa and South Asia.
raptor
Fraser's Eagle-Owl
Fraser's Eagle-Owl is a rufous-brown forest owl of West and Central Africa, densely barred throughout and equipped with prominent ear tufts suited to life in dense rainforest.
owl
Green Bee-eater
A small, brilliantly green bee-eater found from Africa to South Asia, with a thin black eye stripe and a fine pin-like extension to its central tail feathers.
other
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
Little Stint
One of the smallest sandpipers, the Little Stint shows warm rufous-fringed feathers and pale mantle lines in breeding plumage, a delicate miniature counterpart to larger calidrids across Eurasia and Africa.
shorebird
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
The Abyssinian Ground Hornbill is a large, mostly terrestrial hornbill of Sub-Saharan African savanna north of the equator, similar in shape to its southern counterpart but distinguished by its bare blue facial and throat skin. It walks in small groups across open country hunting for prey.
other
Verreaux's Eagle
Verreaux's Eagle, also called the Black Eagle, is a striking African mountain eagle almost entirely glossy black except for a white back patch and pale flight-feather 'windows.' Its long, broad wings and tail are shaped for soaring along cliffs and escarpments.
raptor
Southern Ground Hornbill
The Southern Ground Hornbill is a large, mostly terrestrial hornbill of southern African savanna, easily told by its black plumage, bare red facial skin, and heavy dark bill. It walks in small family groups across open grassland hunting for animal prey.
other
Sooty Falcon
The Sooty Falcon is a slim, uniformly dark grey falcon of desert coastlines and offshore islands of the Middle East and northeastern Africa, sharing Eleonora's Falcon's unusual late-breeding strategy tied to songbird migration.
raptor
Long-legged Buzzard
A pale, long-winged buzzard of arid steppe and semi-desert across Eurasia and North Africa, told from similar hawks by its usually unbarred rufous tail and bold dark carpal patches.
raptor
Grey Heron
A tall, still-hunting wading bird whose pale grey body plumage, black head plumes, and dark flight feathers make it one of the most recognizable large waterbirds in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
wading bird
Wahlberg's Eagle
A slender, migratory savanna eagle of Africa notable for its variable plumage color morphs, ranging from pale cream-brown to dark chocolate, all sharing a distinctive narrow-winged, small-headed silhouette.
raptor
Cape Crow
A slender, all-black crow of southern and eastern Africa's open grasslands, notable for its long, thin bill.
corvid
Regal Sunbird
A jewel-toned montane sunbird of central Africa's highlands, males combining emerald green with a golden-yellow and scarlet underside.
songbird
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