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.
Northern Bobwhite
A small, well-known quail of eastern and central North America, named for its whistled call, with males showing a bold white throat and eyebrow stripe against a reddish-brown, barred body.
gamebird
Gambel's Quail
A desert-dwelling quail of the southwestern United States, closely related to the California Quail but distinguished by a chestnut crown patch and a black belly patch on males.
gamebird
California Quail
A familiar western quail known for the male's forward-drooping black head plume and scaled gray-brown body feathers, common in chaparral and suburban gardens alike.
gamebird
Sapphire Quail-Dove
A chunky, forest-floor quail-dove of the Amazon basin, its back and nape washed with an iridescent sapphire-blue and green sheen against a warm cinnamon face.
dove pigeon
Scaled Quail
A pale, scaly-plumaged quail of arid grassland in the southwestern United States and Mexico, easily recognized by its overall bluish-gray tone and a fluffy white crest sometimes called a cottontop.
gamebird
Mountain Quail
The largest quail native to North America, instantly recognized by the single thin, straight plume that projects from its crown.
gamebird
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
King Quail
One of the smallest quail species in the world, with males showing a smart slate-blue breast and a bold black-and-white barred throat.
gamebird
Japanese Quail
A close relative of the Common Quail from East Asia, cloaked in the same streaky brown camouflage but with a warmer rufous wash to the breast.
gamebird
Common Quail
A tiny, secretive migratory quail of Old World farmland, cloaked in streaked brown plumage that renders it almost invisible in tall grass.
gamebird
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
Northern Shrike
A pale, predatory songbird of the far north that winters across open habitats farther south, distinguished from the smaller Loggerhead Shrike by its larger bill and faintly barred underparts.
songbird
Northern Raven
The largest songbird in the world, with massive black flight feathers and a distinctive wedge-shaped tail, plus shaggy throat feathers unlike any other corvid.
corvid
Northern Pintail
An elegant, long-necked dabbling duck whose male grows dramatically elongated central tail feathers, among the most recognizable single feathers of any duck.
waterfowl
Northern Mockingbird
A slim gray songbird famous for its vocal mimicry, identifiable by the bold white patches on its wings and the white outer edges of its long tail.
songbird
Northern Goshawk
The Northern Goshawk is the largest accipiter, a powerful forest hawk with slate-grey upperparts, a bold white eyebrow stripe, finely barred pale underparts, and fluffy white undertail feathers, built for powerful pursuit through mature forest.
raptor
Northern Flicker
A large, brown-barred woodpecker best identified by the bright yellow or salmon-red shafts of its flight feathers, along with a black chest crescent and spotted underside.
woodpecker
Northern Fulmar
A stocky, tube-nosed seabird that glides on stiff, straight wings low over the waves, occurring in both pale and uniformly dark color forms.
seabird
Northern Cardinal
The Northern Cardinal is a stocky, crested songbird whose males shed brilliant all-red feathers while females drop more subdued brown feathers tinged with red on the wings, tail and crest.
songbird
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
Northern Waterthrush
A streaky, ground-walking warbler of wooded wetlands and stream edges that constantly bobs its tail while foraging along muddy banks.
songbird
Northern Shoveler
A dabbling duck best known for its oversized, spoon-shaped bill, with males showing a bold green head, white breast, and chestnut flanks over pale blue wing patches.
waterfowl
Northern Parula
One of the smallest and most compact wood-warblers, blue-gray above with a yellow throat and a distinctive olive-green back patch, tied to hanging moss or lichen for nesting.
songbird
Northern Lapwing
A distinctive Eurasian plover with iridescent green-black upperparts, a long wispy black crest, and broad, rounded wings that give it a floppy, butterfly-like flight.
shorebird