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.
Oriental Pied Hornbill
The Oriental Pied Hornbill is a medium-sized Asian hornbill with strongly contrasting black-and-white plumage, including a tail marked with white outer feathers. It is one of the more adaptable hornbills, tolerating forest edge and even wooded parkland.
other
Great Hornbill
The Great Hornbill is one of the largest Asian hornbills, marked by bold black-and-white plumage and topped with a massive yellow-and-black casque. It flies with loud, whooshing wingbeats between fruiting trees in dense evergreen forest.
other
Wreathed Hornbill
The Wreathed Hornbill is a large Southeast Asian hornbill named for the corrugated ridges on its casque, showing a marked plumage difference between the rufous-headed male and the all-black female. Flocks travel long distances between fruiting trees across forested landscapes.
other
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
Helmeted Hornbill
The Helmeted Hornbill is a large, distinctive Southeast Asian rainforest bird best known for its solid casque and greatly elongated central tail feathers, which extend far beyond the rest of the tail. Its dark body plumage contrasts with white leg feathers and a long, banded tail.
other
Pied Oystercatcher
A bold black-and-white shorebird with a long orange-red bill, found probing sandy beaches and mudflats along the Australian coast.
shorebird
Pied Falconet
A strikingly pied falconet with clean black-and-white plumage and no rufous coloring at all, found across southern China and northern Southeast Asia.
raptor
Pied Wagtail
The Pied Wagtail is a slender black-and-white songbird best known for its constantly pumping tail, with crisp black-and-white feathering that gives it a strongly contrasting, checkered appearance.
songbird
Pied Crow
A striking black crow of sub-Saharan Africa, instantly recognizable by its bold white breast and neck collar.
corvid
Pied Avocet
A crisp black-and-white wader with a black cap and nape, known for its elegant upturned bill and sweeping feeding motion.
shorebird
Pied Currawong
A large, mostly black Australian songbird, the Pied Currawong is marked by white patches on the wings and tail tip, and a bright yellow eye that stands out against its dark plumage.
songbird
Pied Kingfisher
A striking black-and-white kingfisher known for hovering over water before plunging to catch prey.
other
Red-billed Hornbill
A small African hornbill with a long red bill, spotted grey-brown upperparts, and white underparts, common in savanna and open woodland.
other
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
The Abyssinian Ground Hornbill is a large, mostly terrestrial hornbill of Sub-Saharan African savanna north of the equator, similar in shape to its southern counterpart but distinguished by its bare blue facial and throat skin. It walks in small groups across open country hunting for prey.
other
Southern Ground Hornbill
The Southern Ground Hornbill is a large, mostly terrestrial hornbill of southern African savanna, easily told by its black plumage, bare red facial skin, and heavy dark bill. It walks in small family groups across open grassland hunting for animal prey.
other
European Pied Flycatcher
A small Old World flycatcher in which breeding males show bold black-and-white plumage, while females and nonbreeding males are softer brownish-gray.
songbird
Pied Imperial Pigeon
The Pied Imperial Pigeon is a striking black-and-white pigeon of coastal forests and islands, easily recognized by its creamy white body and bold black flight feathers.
dove pigeon
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
The Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill is a mid-sized African savanna hornbill with speckled black-and-white upperparts, white underparts, and a long, curved pale yellow bill. It is a familiar sight foraging on the ground in dry woodland across southern Africa.
other
Northern Red-billed Hornbill
The Northern Red-billed Hornbill is a slender African savanna hornbill with spotted black-and-white upperparts, white underparts, and a long, slim red bill. It typically forages on open ground in small, active family groups.
other
Himalayan Woodpecker
A larger Himalayan pied woodpecker distinguished from lowland relatives by its barred, rather than solid black, upperparts and a red vent.
woodpecker
Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker
A small South Asian pied woodpecker whose warm, buffy-fulvous breast streaking sets it apart from the whiter underparts of related pied woodpeckers.
woodpecker
Brown-fronted Woodpecker
A small Himalayan woodpecker with a brown forehead patch and finely barred black-and-white back, sharing similarities with related pied woodpeckers at lower elevations.
woodpecker
Black-winged Stilt
A strikingly patterned wader whose feathers form a sharp black-and-white contrast, set off by improbably long pink-red legs.
shorebird
Eurasian Oystercatcher
A large, boldly pied shorebird of European and Asian coastlines, black above and white below, with a striking white wing bar and rump revealed in flight.
shorebird