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.
Ferruginous Hawk
The Ferruginous Hawk is the largest North American buteo, with rich rufous ('ferruginous') back and leg feathers, a pale head and underparts, and a whitish tail, adapted to hunting over open, arid grassland.
raptor
Falcated Duck
An East Asian dabbling duck; breeding males show an iridescent bronze-green head and dramatically elongated, sickle-shaped tertial feathers drooping over the tail, unmatched by any other duck.
waterfowl
Eurasian Treecreeper
The Eurasian Treecreeper has cryptic, bark-patterned upperpart feathers that provide near-perfect camouflage against tree trunks, paired with stiff, pointed tail feathers that brace it as it spirals up trees.
songbird
Crested Owl
A dark, richly colored Neotropical rainforest owl with unusually long, prominent whitish ear-tuft feathers and a bold white eyebrow stripe against otherwise dark brown plumage.
owl
Crested Caracara
A bold, long-legged raptor of southern South America's open grasslands, with a black cap, cream neck, and barred breast that make its feathers unmistakable among ground-foraging birds of prey.
raptor
Common Raven
One of the largest songbirds in the world, the Common Raven produces long, heavy, glossy-black feathers with a pronounced iridescent sheen and a distinctive wedge-shaped tail profile.
corvid
House Martin
The House Martin is a small aerial songbird with glossy blue-black upperpart feathers, a bright white rump patch, and clean white underparts, built for a life spent almost entirely on the wing.
songbird
Garganey
A small, strongly migratory Eurasian dabbling duck; breeding males show a bold white eyebrow stripe and long, drooping striped scapular feathers, while females resemble other small brown teal.
waterfowl
Brambling
A northern finch closely related to the Chaffinch, showing warm orange breast and shoulder feathers, a mottled black-and-orange back, and a bold white rump patch that flashes distinctively in flight.
songbird
Bluethroat
The Bluethroat is a small, ground-dwelling songbird whose breeding males display a strikingly iridescent blue-and-chestnut throat patch, set off by warm rufous tail feathers.
songbird
Great Argus
A pheasant of Southeast Asian rainforest famous for the male's extraordinarily elongated wing feathers, patterned with large eye-like spots and displayed in a dramatic fan during courtship.
gamebird
Common Swift
The Common Swift is an almost entirely aerial bird with long, scythe-like flight feathers and uniformly sooty-brown plumage, built for a life spent on the wing far more than any songbird.
other
American Barn Owl
A pale, heart-faced owl of open farmland and grassland, instantly recognizable by its golden and grey speckled upperparts, ghostly white underside, and exceptionally soft, silent-flight feathers.
owl
Common Kingfisher
A small, jewel-like bird whose brilliant structurally iridescent blue back feathers and warm orange underparts make it one of the most vividly colored birds along any river.
other
Blue-and-yellow Macaw
A large, brilliantly two-toned macaw with deep blue upperparts and golden-yellow underparts, a green forehead patch, and bare white facial skin crossed by narrow lines of small feathers.
parrot
Yellow-rumped Warbler
One of North America's most abundant warblers, easily known by small bright-yellow patches on the rump, sides, and crown set against streaky gray-brown feathers.
songbird
Willow Tit
A plain woodland tit closely resembling the Marsh Tit, distinguished by a duller matte-black cap, a larger bib, and a pale panel across the folded wing formed by pale-edged secondary feathers.
songbird
Southern Lapwing
A bold, noisy plover of South American open country, the Southern Lapwing shows iridescent bronze-green wing feathers, a black breast patch, and a distinctive thin head crest.
shorebird
Sooty Owl
A dark, striking barn-owl relative of Australian and New Guinean rainforest, its sooty gray-black feathers finely speckled with silvery white, unlike any other owl in its range.
owl
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
A striking eastern songbird whose males show a bold black-and-white pattern set off by a triangular rose-red patch on the breast, one of the most distinctive feather patterns among North American songbirds.
songbird
Ring-necked Pheasant
A large, long-tailed gamebird whose males carry some of the most vividly iridescent body feathers and dramatically elongated tail feathers of any bird found in open countryside.
gamebird
Redwing
The smallest widespread European thrush, easily told from its relatives by streaked (rather than spotted) underparts and bright reddish-orange flank and underwing feathers.
songbird
Violet Sabrewing
A large, deep violet Central American hummingbird named for the thickened, curved shafts of its outer primary feathers, a structural feature unique to sabrewing hummingbirds.
hummingbird
Mottled Owl
A medium-sized, ear-tuftless wood owl of Neotropical forest, its feathers finely mottled in dark and pale brown, with whitish eyebrows and buffy, streaked underparts.
owl