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.
Taita Falcon
A rare, compact cliff-dwelling falcon whose deep rufous underparts and dark slate back make it one of Africa's most striking small raptors.
raptor
Spotted Sandpiper
A small, constantly bobbing sandpiper whose breeding-season underparts are covered in bold round black spots unlike any other North American shorebird.
shorebird
Vermilion Flycatcher
A small flycatcher in which males show a strikingly brilliant red crown and underparts against dusky brown wings, while females are far more subdued.
songbird
Senegal Parrot
The Senegal Parrot is a small, stocky West African parrot with a grey head, green back, and a bright yellow-orange belly marking shaped like a V.
parrot
Oriental Scops Owl
The Oriental Scops Owl is a small, migratory Asian owl with cryptic bark-patterned plumage occurring in grey and rufous color morphs, and tiny ear tufts.
owl
Horned Puffin
The North Pacific counterpart to the Atlantic Puffin, similarly patterned in black and white but named for the small fleshy "horn" of skin above each eye in breeding adults.
seabird
Green-cheeked Conure
A small, compact South American conure with green cheeks, a grey-brown crown, and a distinctive maroon-red tail contrasting with its mostly green body.
parrot
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker
A small, widespread Asian woodpecker with a grey-brown crown and crisply barred back, closely resembling other pygmy woodpeckers across its broad range.
woodpecker
Nanday Conure
A green South American conure easily told by its solid black head, or hood, along with a small blue patch on the breast and red-feathered thighs.
parrot
Lined Forest Falcon
A small, shy Amazonian forest-falcon closely resembling the Barred Forest Falcon but with much finer, more closely-spaced barring on its underside feathers.
raptor
Common Murre
A slender, upright seabird resembling a small penguin in posture, with chocolate-brown upperparts and clean white underparts, breeding in dense colonies on narrow sea cliffs.
seabird
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
European Turtle Dove
A small, warmly colored migratory dove with a tortoiseshell-patterned wing and a neat black-and-white striped neck patch found in no other common European dove.
dove pigeon
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
Crested Tit
The Crested Tit is a small European woodland bird easily recognized by its pointed, black-and-white speckled crest, a feature unique among the continent's tits.
songbird
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
A small, delicately spotted woodpecker of African rainforest understory, patterned in olive-green with buff spotting rather than the bold barring typical of many woodpeckers.
woodpecker
Black-capped Vireo
The Black-capped Vireo is a small, energetic vireo of shrubby oak habitat, with males showing a bold black cap set off by striking white spectacles.
songbird
Barnacle Goose
A small, sharply patterned goose with a bold black-and-white face and finely barred silver-gray flanks, breeding on Arctic cliffs and wintering on coastal grassland.
waterfowl
Allen's Hummingbird
A small West Coast hummingbird with a fiery orange-red throat patch, warm rufous flanks and tail, and a back that can be green or rufous depending on the population.
hummingbird
Common Cuckoo
A slim, hawk-mimicking bird whose barred underparts and pointed wings closely resemble a small sparrowhawk, an example of remarkable plumage convergence in nature.
other
Varied Bunting
A small desert bunting whose male plumage looks nearly black in shade but reveals shifting purple, blue, and reddish tones in good light.
songbird
Namaqua Dove
The Namaqua Dove is a small, long-tailed dove of arid Africa, with males showing a bold black face and throat patch and a slender, pointed tail.
dove pigeon
Red Collared-Dove
A small Asian dove with pronounced sexual dimorphism, the male showing a rich wine-red body while the female is a much duller grayish-brown.
dove pigeon
Nuttall's Woodpecker
A small woodpecker largely restricted to California oak woodlands, similar to Ladder-backed Woodpecker but with cleaner white underparts and a solid black nape band.
woodpecker