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.
Brambling
A northern finch closely related to the Chaffinch, showing warm orange breast and shoulder feathers, a mottled black-and-orange back, and a bold white rump patch that flashes distinctively in flight.
songbird
Booted Racket-tail
A tiny Andean hummingbird best known for its puffy white leg feathers and, in males, a pair of long bare tail shafts ending in small dark paddle-shaped tips.
hummingbird
Black-capped Chickadee
The Black-capped Chickadee is a tiny, non-migratory songbird whose soft black-and-white head feathers and plain gray back make it a familiar year-round feeder visitor.
songbird
Red Kite
A rufous, forked-tailed raptor of Europe whose long, angular wings and deeply forked tail feathers are among the most recognizable silhouettes in the sky.
raptor
Carrion Crow
A widespread, all-black generalist corvid whose glossy feathers closely resemble those of the Rook, distinguished mainly by context and subtle shape differences.
corvid
Bohemian Waxwing
A sleek, crested songbird best known for the bright red, wax-like tips on its wing feathers, which give the species its name.
songbird
Bare-legged Owl
A small Cuban endemic owl notable for its bare, unfeathered legs, an unusual trait among owls that otherwise mostly have feathered tarsi.
owl
Yellowhammer
The Yellowhammer is a farmland bunting whose males show vivid yellow head and underpart feathers against a chestnut-streaked back, one of the most colorful seed-eating songbirds of open countryside.
songbird
White-breasted Nuthatch
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a tree-climbing songbird whose clean blue-gray back and pure white face and breast feathers are easy to separate from most other backyard species.
songbird
House Martin
The House Martin is a small aerial songbird with glossy blue-black upperpart feathers, a bright white rump patch, and clean white underparts, built for a life spent almost entirely on the wing.
songbird
Firecrest
The Firecrest is one of Europe's smallest songbirds, a mite of a bird whose soft, downy contour feathers are topped with a blazing orange-and-black crown stripe unlike any similarly sized species.
songbird
Ferruginous Hawk
The Ferruginous Hawk is the largest North American buteo, with rich rufous ('ferruginous') back and leg feathers, a pale head and underparts, and a whitish tail, adapted to hunting over open, arid grassland.
raptor
Blue-and-yellow Macaw
A large, brilliantly two-toned macaw with deep blue upperparts and golden-yellow underparts, a green forehead patch, and bare white facial skin crossed by narrow lines of small feathers.
parrot
Little Owl
A small, flat-headed owl whose boldly white-spotted brown feathers and habit of perching in daylight set it apart from Europe's other owls.
owl
Violet Sabrewing
A large, deep violet Central American hummingbird named for the thickened, curved shafts of its outer primary feathers, a structural feature unique to sabrewing hummingbirds.
hummingbird
Madagascar Kestrel
A small, adaptable island kestrel whose rufous, black-spotted feathers make it one of the most recognizable raptors found across Madagascar's varied habitats.
raptor
Jungle Myna
A slate-gray South Asian myna distinguished by a small tuft of feathers at the base of the bill, along with the bold white wing patch shared with related mynas.
songbird
Dunnock
An unassuming, sparrow-like songbird with soft grey head and breast feathers and a streaked brown back, easily overlooked but distinct once compared with true sparrows.
songbird
Great White Pelican
A massive white pelican with a subtle pinkish tinge, black flight feathers, and a tufted nape crest, found across freshwater and coastal wetlands of Africa and Eurasia.
seabird
Crimson Topaz
One of the largest and most spectacular hummingbirds, the Crimson Topaz shows a glowing ruby-red body and long, crossed golden tail feathers in adult males.
hummingbird
Crimson Sunbird
A vividly colored South and Southeast Asian sunbird whose males combine brilliant crimson plumage with a metallic green crown and elongated central tail feathers.
songbird
Crested Oropendola
A large, glossy black oropendola with a bright yellow tail, a pale ivory bill, and a small feathered crest, widespread across lowland forests of South America.
songbird
Common Whitethroat
A small, active warbler with a bright white throat contrasting a grey head, and warm chestnut fringes on the wing feathers that add color to an otherwise modest bird.
songbird
Inca Dove
A small, pale dove with an overall scaly appearance created by dark-edged feathers, common around towns and arid scrub of the southwestern United States and Mexico.
dove pigeon