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.
Scarlet-headed Blackbird
A striking marsh-dwelling blackbird with a vivid scarlet head, neck, and breast set against an otherwise entirely black body, found in wetlands of central South America.
songbird
Wilson's Warbler
A small, bright yellow warbler with an active, flitting manner, males topped with a neat, glossy black cap and no wing bars or streaking anywhere.
songbird
White-bellied Woodpecker
One of Asia's largest woodpeckers, this glossy black bird is named for the flash of white on its lower belly, which sets it apart from its all-dark relatives.
woodpecker
Lewis's Woodpecker
An unusually plumaged western woodpecker with an iridescent greenish-black back, dark red face, and pink-toned belly, often seen flycatching like a crow.
woodpecker
Eurasian Blackbird
A familiar thrush of European gardens and woodland, with males entirely glossy black offset by a bright yellow-orange bill, while females are a more subdued dark brown.
songbird
Straw-necked Ibis
A gregarious Australian ibis with an iridescent black back and odd straw-textured neck plumes, usually seen foraging in large nomadic flocks across open grassland.
wading bird
Red-winged Blackbird
A common marsh-dwelling blackbird whose males display bold red-and-yellow shoulder patches on glossy black plumage, while females are entirely different, streaked brown like a large sparrow.
songbird
Ring-necked Duck
A medium diving duck with a peaked head shape and a glossy black back, best distinguished from scaup by a white vertical spur at the base of the wing rather than a grey back.
waterfowl
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
A small, delicately patterned European woodpecker of old oak woodland, easily told from the Great Spotted Woodpecker by its unbroken red cap and streaked, rather than solidly barred, flanks.
woodpecker
Blackburnian Warbler
A small wood-warbler with a vivid orange throat and face set against black facial markings, breeding high in mature conifer canopy.
songbird
Tricolored Blackbird
The Tricolored Blackbird is a highly colonial marsh-nesting blackbird, similar to the Red-winged Blackbird but distinguished by a white (rather than yellow) border on its red shoulder patch.
songbird
American Oystercatcher
A large pied shorebird of American coastlines, with a black head and neck, brown rather than black back, and a long orange-red bill used to open shellfish.
shorebird
Cape Crow
A slender, all-black crow of southern and eastern Africa's open grasslands, notable for its long, thin bill.
corvid
Amethyst Sunbird
A predominantly dark sunbird whose males show glittering amethyst-purple patches on the crown, throat, and shoulder that flash brightly against otherwise blackish plumage.
songbird
Cinereous Vulture
One of the heaviest flying raptors, with uniformly dark brown plumage, a dense dark ruff, and broad flight feathers adapted for soaring across open Eurasian terrain.
raptor
Townsend's Warbler
Townsend's Warbler is a striking Pacific Northwest warbler with a bold black-and-yellow face pattern and olive-streaked back.
songbird
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
Paradise Tanager
One of the most vividly colored songbirds in the world, the Paradise Tanager combines a turquoise-green head, black back, red rump, and purplish-blue throat in a single small canopy bird.
songbird
Antillean Siskin
A small island finch restricted to the mountains of Hispaniola, showing a black head and back set against bright yellow underparts.
songbird
Yellow-bellied Siskin
A tropical montane finch with a black head and back offset by warm yellow underparts, found in cloud-forest edges and clearings.
songbird
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
A Texas and Mexican woodpecker with a barred black-and-white back and golden-yellow patches on the nape and face rather than red.
woodpecker
Yellow-crowned Woodpecker
A small South Asian woodpecker recognized by a yellow patch on the forecrown, paired with a classic black-and-white barred back and streaked underparts.
woodpecker
White Woodpecker
An unusually pale South American woodpecker, mostly white with contrasting black wings and back and a patch of bare yellow facial skin.
woodpecker
Hoffmann's Woodpecker
A common Central American woodpecker with a black-and-white barred back and a small patch of yellow on the nape, adaptable to gardens and open plantations.
woodpecker