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.
Common Goldeneye
The Common Goldeneye is a striking black-and-white diving duck named for its piercing golden-yellow eye, with males showing a round white spot on an otherwise glossy dark green head.
waterfowl
Elliot's Pheasant
A richly patterned Chinese forest pheasant, with males showing a chestnut body, blue-grey head, crisp white throat patch, and a long chestnut tail barred in black and white.
gamebird
Bell's Vireo
Bell's Vireo is a small, active, plain-plumaged vireo of dense riparian scrub, more often detected by its scolding, jumbled song than by sight.
songbird
Great Tit
A boldly patterned tit with a glossy black head and white cheeks, bright yellow underparts split by a black central stripe, and blue-grey wings with a white bar, among the most recognizable garden songbirds.
songbird
African Wood Owl
A medium-sized African forest owl without ear tufts, dark brown with white spotting above and boldly barred brown and white below, well known for its distinctive laughing duet call.
owl
Aztec Thrush
The Aztec Thrush is a boldly patterned montane thrush of Mexican cloud forest, marked by striking white wing patches and white-tipped tail feathers against dark brown-black body plumage.
songbird
Black-necked Stork
A tall, striking stork of India and Australia with a glossy iridescent black head and neck, a white body, and bold black-and-white wings, sometimes locally called the Jabiru despite being unrelated to the true American species.
wading bird
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
Red-crowned Crane
One of the rarest cranes in the world, a large white East Asian crane with a black neck, a bare red crown, and elongated black secondary feathers that form a false 'tail' over its true white tail.
wading bird
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
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
Tambourine Dove
The Tambourine Dove is a small forest dove with a strikingly white face and underparts set against brown upperparts marked with dark wing spots.
dove pigeon
Paradise Shelduck
A large New Zealand duck with striking sex-based color difference, males dark and glossy while females show a bright white head and chestnut body.
waterfowl
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
Masked Booby
The largest booby species, with a clean white body set off by black flight feathers, a black tail, and a dark facial mask around the bill.
seabird
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
Gila Woodpecker
A common Sonoran Desert woodpecker with a plain gray-tan head and body set off by a boldly barred black-and-white back and wings.
woodpecker
Black-headed Caique
A small, sharply patterned Amazonian parrot with a black crown, orange cheeks, and clean white underparts.
parrot
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
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
Red-headed Woodpecker
One of the most strikingly patterned North American woodpeckers, with an entirely crimson-red head set against bold black-and-white body plumage.
woodpecker
Goffin's Cockatoo
A small white cockatoo with a subtle salmon-pink tinge at the base of the crest and between the eye and bill.
parrot
Vesper Sparrow
A streaky grassland sparrow best identified by white outer tail feathers and a small chestnut shoulder patch.
songbird
Nicobar Pigeon
The Nicobar Pigeon is a striking island pigeon with long, shimmering hackle-like neck feathers in shifting metallic greens and coppers, set off by a pure white tail.
dove pigeon