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.
Lazuli Bunting
A small western North American bunting, the male Lazuli Bunting pairs a turquoise-blue head and back with a warm orange breast band and clean white belly.
songbird
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
Eastern Screech-Owl
A small, common owl of eastern North American woodlands and suburbs, occurring in both a grey and a rufous color morph, both finely patterned to resemble tree bark.
owl
Chestnut-eared Aracari
A toucan relative of South American forests, with a huge cream-and-black bill, a chestnut patch behind the eye, and yellow underparts crossed by a bold red-and-black band.
other
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
Spotted Sandpiper
A small, constantly bobbing sandpiper whose breeding-season underparts are covered in bold round black spots unlike any other North American shorebird.
shorebird
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
Nanday Conure
A green South American conure easily told by its solid black head, or hood, along with a small blue patch on the breast and red-feathered thighs.
parrot
California Thrasher
The largest North American thrasher, a dark chocolate-brown bird of California chaparral with a long, strongly curved bill adapted for digging through leaf litter.
songbird
Green Hermit
A large green hermit hummingbird found in forest understory from Central America to northern South America, marked by its long decurved bill and elongated white-tipped tail streamer.
hummingbird
Clay-colored Thrush
A plain, uniformly brown thrush of Middle America, closely related to the American Robin but lacking its bright orange breast, identified by its overall buffy-brown tone and pale bill.
songbird
Yellow-naped Amazon
The Yellow-naped Amazon is a large Central American parrot recognized by the bright yellow band across the back of its neck, set against otherwise all-green plumage.
parrot
Swallow-tailed Kite
A graceful, boldly two-toned raptor with a deeply forked tail, whose sharp black-and-white feathers are unlike almost any other North American bird of prey.
raptor
Mountain Bluebird
A slender, sky-blue songbird of western North American high country, the male appearing almost entirely blue with no rusty breast patch, unlike its bluebird relatives.
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-throated Caracara
A loud, glossy black rainforest raptor of the Amazon and Central America, with a bare red throat and face and a striking white belly patch, often heard before it is seen.
raptor
Streak-backed Oriole
A vividly orange oriole of Mexican and Central American dry forests, distinguished by black streaking across its back, and an occasional rare visitor to the southwestern United States.
songbird
Spot-winged Falconet
A small, distinctive South American falcon of arid scrub and Chaco woodland, showing white-spotted wings against brown-grey upperparts and streaked buffy underparts.
raptor
Picui Ground Dove
A small, pale ground dove of open southern South American country, marked by neat blackish spots on its wing coverts and flashes of blue-grey in flight.
dove pigeon
Mountain Plover
An unusual, upland-dwelling North American plover of dry short-grass prairie, notably lacking the dark breast band typical of most of its shorebird relatives.
shorebird
Fox Sparrow
A large, richly colored sparrow whose reddish tail and heavily spotted breast make its feathers among the most distinctive of any North American sparrow.
songbird
Southern Lapwing
A bold, noisy plover of South American open country, the Southern Lapwing shows iridescent bronze-green wing feathers, a black breast patch, and a distinctive thin head crest.
shorebird
Fiery-throated Hummingbird
A high-elevation Central American hummingbird whose throat flashes a fiery orange-red patch bordered by contrasting blue, set against an overall glittering blue-green body.
hummingbird
Black-necked Stilt
A tall, slender American shorebird in crisp black-and-white plumage, best known for its extremely long, thin pink-red legs that trail well beyond the tail in flight.
shorebird