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.
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
European Shag
A slender, all-dark cormorant relative with an iridescent green-black sheen and a distinctive forward-curling crest during the breeding season.
seabird
Dunlin
A common small sandpiper whose breeding plumage features a bold black belly patch found on no other similarly sized shorebird.
shorebird
Australasian Gannet
A large white seabird with black wingtips and a warm yellow head wash, known for spectacular high-speed plunge-dives into the ocean.
seabird
Yellow-fronted Canary
A small African finch with a bright yellow face and underparts set off by a bold black malar stripe and streaked olive-green back.
songbird
White-eared Bulbul
A dry-country bulbul with a black head, distinctive white ear patch, and bright yellow undertail, common around gardens and arid scrub.
songbird
Village Weaver
A social African weaverbird known for elaborate woven nests, breeding males showing bright yellow bodies with black heads and mottled backs.
songbird
Spruce Grouse
A boreal forest grouse with dark, densely barred plumage, a black throat patch in males, and a short tail typically tipped with rust-orange.
gamebird
Spotted Dove
A common Asian dove instantly recognized by the broad black collar on its hindneck, which is finely spotted with white like a string of pearls.
dove pigeon
Semipalmated Sandpiper
A small, plain-plumaged sandpiper with a short, straight, stubby bill and black legs, among the most abundant shorebirds of eastern North America.
shorebird
Scarlet Finch
One of the most vividly colored Himalayan finches, the male Scarlet Finch is nearly all brilliant red with contrasting black wings and tail.
songbird
Red-backed Shrike
A small Eurasian shrike with strongly different male and female plumages, the male showing a gray head, chestnut back, and black bandit mask.
songbird
Ovenbird
A ground-dwelling warbler that looks more like a small thrush, with heavily streaked underparts and a bold orange crown stripe bordered in black.
songbird
Northern Gannet
A large, brilliant white seabird with black wingtips and a warm buffy-yellow wash on the head, famous for its spectacular plunge-dives into the sea.
seabird
Himalayan Woodpecker
A larger Himalayan pied woodpecker distinguished from lowland relatives by its barred, rather than solid black, upperparts and a red vent.
woodpecker
Montezuma Quail
A round, secretive quail of southwestern grasslands, with males showing one of the boldest black-and-white facial patterns of any North American gamebird.
gamebird
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
A small desert woodpecker whose black-and-white back forms a neat, closely spaced ladder pattern, common in cactus and mesquite scrub.
woodpecker
Koklass Pheasant
A grey-bodied Himalayan pheasant with a bold black-and-white head pattern, a chestnut breast patch, and a distinctive short, wedge-shaped tail.
gamebird
Kentucky Warbler
A bright yellow, olive-backed warbler of the forest floor, marked by bold black stripes framing the face like sideburns and a partial spectacle.
songbird
Gila Woodpecker
A common Sonoran Desert woodpecker with a plain gray-tan head and body set off by a boldly barred black-and-white back and wings.
woodpecker
European Storm-Petrel
One of the smallest seabirds in the world, sooty black overall with a white rump patch, fluttering like a large bat low over the waves.
seabird
Eurasian Treepie
A slender, rufous-brown corvid with a black head and an extremely long graduated tail, common in gardens and open woodland across South Asia.
corvid
Eurasian Magpie
A boldly pied corvid whose black feathers flash iridescent blue-green and purple in the light, with an unmistakably long, wedge-shaped tail.
corvid
Downy Woodpecker
The smallest North American woodpecker, its black-and-white checkered feathers and short bill make it a common and easily identified backyard bird.
woodpecker