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.
Andean Hillstar
A high-altitude specialist hummingbird of the Andean puna, showing a white belly and, in males, a glittering green throat above a violet breast band.
hummingbird
Speckled Chachalaca
A grayish-brown, chicken-like bird of South American forest edges, marked with fine pale speckling on the breast and a long tail broadly tipped in cinnamon. It is best known for its loud, raucous dawn calls that give the chachalaca its name.
gamebird
Double-crested Cormorant
A widespread, glossy black waterbird with a bright orange-yellow throat patch, often seen perched with wings spread to dry after diving.
seabird
Southern Red Bishop
A small African weaver whose breeding males turn brilliant scarlet and black, one of the most vividly colored birds of Africa's wetland grasses.
songbird
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
Cockatiel
A slender, crested Australian parrot with soft grey plumage, a bold white wing patch, and, in males, a yellow face marked by a bright orange cheek spot.
parrot
Umbrella Cockatoo
An entirely white cockatoo with a large, broad crest that opens into a dramatic fan or umbrella shape when raised.
parrot
Northern Wheatear
The Northern Wheatear is an open-country songbird best known for its bold white rump and black-and-white tail pattern, flashed conspicuously in flight above blue-grey or buff-brown body plumage.
songbird
African Pygmy Falcon
One of the smallest raptors in the world, this tiny falcon of African thornveld shows crisp white underparts against a grey or chestnut back, often nesting alongside colonial weaverbirds.
raptor
Indian Pond Heron
A small, drably streaked heron of South Asia that seems to vanish among vegetation at rest, then reveals bright white wings the instant it flies.
wading bird
Caique
A small, boldly patterned Amazonian parrot with an orange-yellow head, white belly, and green wings.
parrot
Tawny Frogmouth
A nocturnal Australian bird with mottled grey-brown feathers that mimic tree bark, allowing it to remain nearly invisible while perched motionless during the day.
other
Blue Crane
South Africa's national bird, a pale blue-grey crane with unusually long, trailing wing-tip feathers that can nearly brush the ground when the bird is standing.
wading bird
Mandarin Duck
An East Asian perching duck famed for the male's uniquely upright orange 'sail' feathers on the wing, among the most distinctive single feathers of any bird in the world.
waterfowl
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
Cassin's Auklet
A small, drab, sooty-gray auklet lacking the bold facial ornaments of its relatives, most easily told by its stubby bill with a small pale spot near the tip.
seabird
Nelson's Sparrow
A softly patterned marsh sparrow with a blurry orange face and grayish back streaking, found in both interior and coastal wetlands.
songbird
Common Kingfisher
A small, jewel-like bird whose brilliant structurally iridescent blue back feathers and warm orange underparts make it one of the most vividly colored birds along any river.
other
Somali Ostrich
A large flightless bird of the Horn of Africa closely related to the Common Ostrich, distinguished by the male's distinctive blue-grey neck and legs.
other
Greater Rhea
A large flightless ratite of South American grasslands, with soft, loose grayish-brown plumage and a long neck, related more to ostriches and emus than to typical flying birds.
other
Grey Warbler
The Grey Warbler is one of New Zealand's smallest birds, a plain grey-brown insect-eater best known for its long, trilling song rather than its understated plumage.
songbird
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
A tiny, day-active owl of arid scrub and thorn forest across the Americas, often revealed by its bold rufous or gray-brown coloring and long, cocked, barred tail.
owl
Bean Goose
A dark, orange-legged gray goose of Eurasian taiga and tundra, uniformly brown without the pale head-body contrast or bright bill color of related species.
waterfowl
Great Slaty Woodpecker
The largest living woodpecker species, a huge slate-grey bird of South and Southeast Asian forests that typically travels in noisy family parties.
woodpecker