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.
Ruppell's Vulture
A large African vulture best known for its scaly, scalloped-looking plumage created by pale-edged dark brown feathers, and famous for flying at higher altitudes than almost any other bird.
raptor
Rifleman
The Rifleman is New Zealand's smallest bird, a tiny, almost tailless forest species that creeps up tree trunks probing bark for insects.
songbird
Rufous-winged Sparrow
A subtly marked desert sparrow with rufous shoulder patches and a thin dark malar stripe, largely restricted to southern Arizona.
songbird
Rhinoceros Hornbill
The Rhinoceros Hornbill is a large Southeast Asian rainforest bird best known for its upturned, horn-shaped casque, set against black-and-white plumage similar to other large Asian hornbills. It is an important seed disperser in the forests it inhabits.
other
Rufous Treepie
A long-tailed corvid of the Indian subcontinent, warm rufous-orange with a black head and a pale wing patch, often heard before it is seen thanks to its loud, varied calls.
corvid
Resplendent Quetzal
The Resplendent Quetzal is a brilliantly iridescent Central American cloud forest bird, with males trailing long, flowing tail covert streamers behind a shimmering green body and crimson belly. It has long been culturally significant across its Mesoamerican range.
other
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
One of the most widespread and familiar hummingbirds in its range, easily recognized by its green throat and breast set against a gray belly and a bright rufous tail.
hummingbird
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
Rufous-collared Sparrow
One of the most familiar and widespread songbirds in Latin America, recognized by its gray-and-black striped head, rufous collar across the nape, and streaked brown back. It thrives from sea level to high Andean grasslands and is equally at home in cities and open country.
songbird
Regal Sunbird
A jewel-toned montane sunbird of central Africa's highlands, males combining emerald green with a golden-yellow and scarlet underside.
songbird
Rufous-breasted Hermit
A warm-toned hermit hummingbird of forest edges and streamsides, distinguished by rufous-cinnamon underparts and a rufous-edged tail contrasting with green upperparts.
hummingbird
Reeves's Pheasant
A pheasant of central China renowned for having the longest tail feathers of any bird in its family, combined with golden, black-scaled body plumage and a bold black-and-white head pattern.
gamebird
Rufous-backed Robin
A Mexican thrush resembling the American Robin but with a warmer rufous back and a distinctly streaked black-and-white throat.
songbird
Red-masked Conure
A bright green conure with a bold red head and scattered red patches on the wings and underwing coverts.
parrot
Ruddy Quail-Dove
A plump, reddish-chestnut forest-floor dove marked with a distinctive pale stripe below the eye, more often heard than seen in dense tropical undergrowth.
dove pigeon
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
Ruddy Ground Dove
A tiny, warm rufous-colored dove common in open country across the American tropics, with males showing rich cinnamon plumage and black-spotted wings.
dove pigeon
Red-footed Falcon
The Red-footed Falcon is a small, gregarious falcon of eastern European and Asian steppes, males a striking dark slate-grey with rusty leggings, females patterned orange-buff with grey barring above.
raptor
Ruddy Duck
The Ruddy Duck is a small, compact stiff-tailed duck best known for its stiff, often upright tail feathers and, in breeding males, a vivid rufous body set off by a black cap and white cheek.
waterfowl
Red-eyed Vireo
The Red-eyed Vireo is a common, persistent-singing woodland bird with a bold gray-and-white head pattern and, in adults, a distinctive red iris.
songbird
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
One of the smallest songbirds in North America, this active, constantly flicking bird carries a hidden ruby-red crown patch in males that is usually concealed and only flashed briefly during excitement or display.
songbird
Red-legged Partridge
A plump, ground-dwelling gamebird whose boldly barred flank feathers in black, white, and chestnut are unmistakable at close range.
gamebird
Ruby-cheeked Sunbird
A tiny Southeast Asian sunbird with bronze-green upperparts, an orange-yellow belly, and a small but bright ruby-colored cheek patch.
songbird
Red-legged Kittiwake
A cliff-nesting Bering Sea specialist, smaller and darker-mantled than its more widespread relative, and readily told by its bright red legs and shorter bill.
seabird
Royal Tern
One of the largest terns, approaching gull-like proportions, with a heavy orange bill and a shaggy black crest that is often reduced to a ragged crown patch outside the breeding season.
seabird
Red Knot
A stocky, medium-sized sandpiper famous for spectacular long-distance migrations, showing warm salmon-red underparts in breeding plumage that fade to plain, softly scaled gray for winter.
shorebird
Ross's Goose
The smallest white goose in North America, nearly identical in color to the Snow Goose but noticeably more compact, with a short neck and stubby bill.
waterfowl
Red Junglefowl
The wild ancestor of the domestic chicken, with males displaying glossy orange-gold neck hackles and long, curved, iridescent black tail feathers.
gamebird
Roseate Spoonbill
The only pink spoonbill in the world, easily identified by its rosy-pink body plumage, white neck, and spoon-shaped grey bill.
wading bird
Red Crossbill
A stocky finch with a distinctively crossed bill adapted for prying seeds from conifer cones, males brick-red and females olive-toned.
songbird
Rose-crowned Fruit Dove
The Rose-crowned Fruit Dove is a small, brilliantly colored fruit dove with a soft rose-pink crown patch set against a green body and yellow belly.
dove pigeon
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
A southeastern pine specialist woodpecker best known for its large white cheek patch and its habit of excavating cavities only in living pine trees.
woodpecker
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
A striking eastern songbird whose males show a bold black-and-white pattern set off by a triangular rose-red patch on the breast, one of the most distinctive feather patterns among North American songbirds.
songbird
Red Phalarope
The most oceanic of the phalaropes, the Red Phalarope shows brick-red underparts in breeding plumage and pale gray winter feathers, with a stouter bill than its phalarope relatives.
shorebird
Rook
A glossy, all-black farmland corvid recognized in life by its bare greyish face skin and shaggy thigh feathering, and in feather form by its strong purple-blue sheen.
corvid
Red-necked Phalarope
A tiny, tundra-nesting phalarope that spends most of the year far out at sea, the Red-necked Phalarope shows a bold chestnut neck patch in breeding females and streaked dark-and-buff upperparts with a distinct white wing stripe.
shorebird
Rock Ptarmigan
A circumpolar tundra grouse that turns from mottled gray-brown in summer to pure white in winter, always retaining black tail feathers as a year-round field mark.
gamebird
Red-breasted Meadowlark
A grassland songbird of South America, with males showing a striking bright red throat and breast against an otherwise black body, while females are cryptically streaked brown.
songbird
Rock Dove
The wild ancestor of the familiar city pigeon, typically blue-grey with bold black wing bars and a white rump, though feral descendants show enormous color variation.
dove pigeon
Red Bird-of-paradise
The Red Bird-of-paradise is distinguished by the male's vivid crimson flank plumes and unique curled, ribbon-like black tail wires used in display. It is found only on a small number of islands in the Raja Ampat region of Indonesia.
songbird
Ringed Kingfisher
The largest kingfisher in the Americas, a heavy-bodied bird with a shaggy crest and a loud rattling call along rivers and lakeshores.
other
Red-billed Streamertail
Jamaica's national bird, the Red-billed Streamertail is famed for the male's extraordinarily long, curved tail feathers that produce a humming sound in flight.
hummingbird
Ring-necked Pheasant
A large, long-tailed gamebird whose males carry some of the most vividly iridescent body feathers and dramatically elongated tail feathers of any bird found in open countryside.
gamebird
Red-billed Blue Magpie
A long-tailed, blue-grey Asian corvid with a black head, red bill and legs, and a spectacular graduated tail tipped in white.
corvid
Ring-billed Gull
A common, adaptable medium-sized gull of North America named for the black band around its bill, the Ring-billed Gull shows pale gray back feathers and yellow legs, thriving in habitats from lakeshores to parking lots.
seabird
Red-billed Pigeon
A large, dark pigeon of Texas and Central American woodlands, named for its bicolored bill and identified by its rich maroon-purple head and breast.
dove pigeon
Rhinoceros Auklet
A dusky, medium-sized auk related to the puffins, named for the small horn-like projection that grows at the base of the bill in breeding adults.
seabird
Pine Warbler
A warbler tightly associated with pine forests, showing subdued olive-yellow upperparts, dull yellow underparts, and two whitish wing bars, less flashy than many of its warbler relatives.
songbird