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.
Black Guillemot
A small, sooty-black auk of northern rocky coasts, easily told by a bold white oval patch on each wing and bright red legs and feet.
seabird
Regent Parrot
The Regent Parrot is a slender, long-tailed Australian parrot in which males are largely bright yellow with bold red and black wing markings, while females are a much duller olive-green.
parrot
Common Tern
A widespread and familiar tern of coasts and inland waters, identified by its black cap, forked tail, red-orange bill with a black tip, and a dark wedge along the leading edge of the outer wing.
seabird
Cedar Waxwing
A sleek, crested bird best known for the small, waxy red tips on its secondary wing feathers, paired with a soft brown-to-gray body and a bright yellow band across the tail tip.
songbird
Flame-colored Tanager
A mountain-forest tanager of Mexico and Central America, the male Flame-colored Tanager combines orange-red body plumage with a distinctively black-streaked back and white wing bars.
songbird
Eurasian Teal
The Old World form of the common teal, closely related to the North American Green-winged Teal, told apart chiefly by a horizontal white scapular stripe rather than a vertical flank stripe.
waterfowl
Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle
A massive, broad-winged raptor of the Andes and southern grasslands, recognized by its silvery flight feathers, short wedge tail, and sharply contrasting black chest patch against a white belly.
raptor
Turquoise Parrot
The Turquoise Parrot is a small, brightly colored Australian parrot with a turquoise face and wing edge, a yellow belly, and a chestnut patch on the wing in males.
parrot
Common Black Hawk
A stocky, broad-winged hawk of wooded streams and mangroves, easily told from other dark raptors by its nearly all-black plumage crossed by a single wide white tail band.
raptor
Eleonora's Falcon
Eleonora's Falcon is a slender, long-winged falcon of Mediterranean sea cliffs, notable for breeding unusually late in the year to feed its young on autumn-migrating songbirds, and occurring in both pale and dark color morphs.
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
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
Northern Harrier
The Northern Harrier, sometimes called the Marsh Hawk, is a slim, long-winged raptor of open grassland and marsh, known for its low, tilting flight, a distinctive white rump patch in all plumages, and an owl-like facial disc that helps it hear prey in the grass.
raptor
Golden Conure
A strikingly golden-yellow Amazonian parrot with contrasting green wing feathers and a long tail.
parrot
Mitred Conure
A largely green Andean conure marked by variable patches of red mottling around the face and eyes, along with scattered red feathering on the wings and legs.
parrot
Hepatic Tanager
A dusky-red tanager of pine-oak mountain forest, the male Hepatic Tanager is brick-red overall with a subtle grayish cheek patch and a dark bill.
songbird
Northern Cardinal
The Northern Cardinal is a stocky, crested songbird whose males shed brilliant all-red feathers while females drop more subdued brown feathers tinged with red on the wings, tail and crest.
songbird
Alexandrine Parakeet
One of the largest Psittacula parakeets, distinguished from the similar Rose-ringed Parakeet by its bigger size, heavier red bill, and a distinctive maroon-red patch on the shoulder.
parrot
Lawrence's Goldfinch
A small California and Baja California finch, gray-bodied with a black face on males and bright yellow wing and rump patches.
songbird
Least Bittern
One of the smallest herons in the world, an inconspicuous marsh dweller with buffy wing patches that flash as it clambers deftly through dense reeds.
wading bird
Sri Lanka Junglefowl
Sri Lanka's national bird, a forest junglefowl whose males glow in rich orange-red plumage set off by a red comb marked with a distinctive yellow center patch.
gamebird
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
Wandering Tattler
A uniformly slate-gray shorebird of rocky Pacific coastlines, lacking any wing pattern and constantly bobbing as it forages among tide pools.
shorebird
Pigeon Guillemot
The North Pacific counterpart of the Black Guillemot, similarly sooty black with a white wing patch, but with the patch typically crossed by a dark wedge or bar.
seabird