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.
Prothonotary Warbler
A vivid golden-yellow warbler of wooded swamps and flooded bottomland forest, one of the few warbler species that nests in tree cavities.
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
Powerful Woodpecker
A large woodpecker of Andean cloud forest, closely related to the Crimson-crested and Magellanic Woodpeckers but with distinctive buffy, barred underparts rather than clean black-and-white.
woodpecker
Patagonian Conure
A large, earth-toned South American parrot notable for nesting in burrows dug into cliff faces, identified by its olive-brown upperparts and a bright yellow-and-red patch across the lower belly.
parrot
Prairie Falcon
A pale falcon of arid western North America, best identified in flight by a distinctive dark patch on the underwing near the body, set against otherwise pale sandy-brown plumage.
raptor
Pectoral Sandpiper
A medium-sized sandpiper with a sharply demarcated brown, streaked breast band ending abruptly against a clean white belly.
shorebird
Piping Plover
A pale, sand-colored North American plover with an often broken black breast band, closely tied to open sandy beaches and alkaline lakeshores.
shorebird
Pheasant Pigeon
The Pheasant Pigeon is a shy, ground-dwelling New Guinea pigeon named for its long, pheasant-like tail and glossy, dark iridescent body.
dove pigeon
Plain Mountain Finch
A plainly plumaged high-altitude finch of the Himalayas and Central Asia, relying on streaky brown camouflage rather than bright color.
songbird
Peach-faced Lovebird
A small green parrot with a soft peach-pink face and throat and a bright blue rump patch, native to southwestern Africa.
parrot
Pink Pigeon
A pale pink-headed pigeon found only on Mauritius, its soft blush-colored head and underparts contrasting with warm rufous-brown wings and a long graduated tail.
dove pigeon
Peregrine Falcon
A powerful, fast-flying falcon found on nearly every continent, famous for high-speed hunting stoops and identified by its slate-gray back, bold black facial 'moustache,' and finely barred underparts.
raptor
Pink-necked Green Pigeon
The Pink-necked Green Pigeon is a common Southeast Asian pigeon whose males show a soft pink throat and orange breast patch set against green plumage.
dove pigeon
Pileated Woodpecker
The largest common North American woodpecker, unmistakable for its crow-like size, deep black body, flaming red crest, and bold white neck stripes.
woodpecker
Pine Siskin
The Pine Siskin is a small, heavily streaked finch whose brown feathers show flashes of yellow in the wings and tail, and whose winter range shifts unpredictably year to year.
songbird
Pine Grosbeak
A large, tame northern finch with a stout bill, rosy-pink males and grey-and-yellow females, and bold white wing bars visible in flight.
songbird
Pinyon Jay
A uniformly blue, short-tailed, crestless jay of the western pinyon-juniper woodlands, famous for its large nomadic flocks and close relationship with pine seeds.
corvid
Pin-tailed Green Pigeon
The Pin-tailed Green Pigeon is a green forest pigeon distinguished by its long, needle-like central tail feathers that extend well beyond the rest of the tail.
dove pigeon
Pink-footed Goose
A compact gray goose with a notably darker head and neck than its body, a short pink-banded bill, and pink legs, breeding in the far North Atlantic and wintering on European farmland.
waterfowl
Palestine Sunbird
A small Middle Eastern sunbird whose males appear almost entirely glossy dark blue-black, with hidden orange tufts flashed during display.
songbird
Rainbow Bee-eater
Australia's only bee-eater, a multicolored bird combining green, gold, and turquoise plumage with a fine black tail streamer.
other
Olive Warbler
The Olive Warbler is a small, treetop songbird of southwestern highland pines, notable for the male's burnt-orange head and bold black mask.
songbird
Pyrrhuloxia
A desert relative of the Northern Cardinal, the Pyrrhuloxia is soft gray overall with splashes of red on the crest, face, and underparts, plus a distinctive stubby yellow bill.
songbird
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
Purple-throated Carib
A Lesser Antillean hummingbird whose deep green body sets off a brilliant magenta-purple throat patch that can look nearly black until it catches direct light.
hummingbird
Orange-crowned Warbler
An overall dull olive-yellow warbler with faint, blurry underpart streaking and a mostly concealed orange crown patch rarely visible in the field.
songbird
Purple Martin
The largest North American swallow, with males showing an all-over glossy blue-black sheen and females a duller gray-brown, pale-bellied pattern.
songbird
Orange-breasted Sunbird
A fynbos specialist sunbird from South Africa's Cape region, with males showing an iridescent green head, a violet nape band, and a bright orange breast.
songbird
Purple-rumped Sunbird
A small, brightly patterned South Asian sunbird recognized by its maroon back, glittering purple rump patch, and yellow underparts.
songbird
Orange-breasted Falcon
The Orange-breasted Falcon is a powerful, rare Neotropical falcon resembling a large Bat Falcon, with a black hood, a broad orange-buff breast band, and a boldly white-barred black belly.
raptor
Purple Heron
A slim, secretive relative of the Grey Heron with rich chestnut neck feathering and a habit of hiding among tall reeds.
wading bird
Palm Cockatoo
A large, distinctive black cockatoo with a shaggy crest and bright red bare facial skin that can flush more intensely when the bird is excited.
parrot
Puerto Rican Woodpecker
An island-endemic woodpecker found only in Puerto Rico, showing a bold black chest band across an otherwise pale, cream-colored underside.
woodpecker
Palm Tanager
A close relative of the Blue-gray Tanager, the Palm Tanager shows a more subdued olive-gray to greenish tone overall with darker wings and little of the brighter blue accent of its cousin.
songbird
Puerto Rican Screech-Owl
The Puerto Rican Screech-Owl, locally known as the mucaro, is a small island-endemic owl with soft reddish-brown or grey-brown plumage and a rounded, nearly tuftless head.
owl
Palm-nut Vulture
An unusual, mostly white African vulture closely tied to oil palm groves and coastal wetlands, with black flight feathers and a partly black tail breaking up its pale plumage.
raptor
Princess Parrot
The Princess Parrot is a slender, pastel-colored parrot of Australia's arid interior, notable for its soft pink throat and long, elegant tail.
parrot
Oriental Magpie
An East Asian magpie closely related to the Eurasian Magpie, recognized by its glossy black-and-white pattern and a somewhat shorter tail than its western relatives.
corvid
Pacific Screech-Owl
A small eared owl of Pacific lowland Central America, with greyish-brown streaked plumage and pale eyebrows meeting above the bill.
owl
Oriental Greenfinch
An East Asian finch with olive-green body plumage and bright yellow flashes in the wings and tail, closely related to the European Greenfinch.
songbird
Pel's Fishing Owl
Pel's Fishing Owl is a large, rufous-chestnut African owl specialized for hunting fish along rivers and lakes, with bare, unfeathered legs and feet unlike most owls.
owl
Orchard Oriole
The smallest North American oriole, with adult males showing a rich chestnut body against a black hood and back, while females and young males wear a more subdued olive-yellow plumage.
songbird
Orange Dove
A Fijian fruit dove in which males glow a vivid, almost flame-like orange from head to tail, while females remain camouflaged in typical fruit-dove green.
dove pigeon
Pale-vented Pigeon
A tropical pigeon of Central and South American lowlands, showing a warm purplish-bronze head and breast that gives way to a notably pale lower belly and vent.
dove pigeon
Palm Warbler
A ground-foraging wood-warbler with a rufous cap in breeding plumage and constant tail-bobbing, breeding in northern bogs and wintering in the southeastern US.
songbird
Pallas's Rosefinch
A rosefinch of Siberian and northeast Asian forests, with adult males showing an overall rose-pink plumage frosted with silvery-white on the head.
songbird
Pied Crow
A striking black crow of sub-Saharan Africa, instantly recognizable by its bold white breast and neck collar.
corvid
Pale-billed Woodpecker
A large Middle American woodpecker closely related to the Crimson-crested and Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, recognized by its fully red head and pale, ivory-toned bill.
woodpecker