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.

Red-legged Partridge
A plump, ground-dwelling gamebird whose boldly barred flank feathers in black, white, and chestnut are unmistakable at close range.
gamebird
Rainbow Bee-eater
Australia's only bee-eater, a multicolored bird combining green, gold, and turquoise plumage with a fine black tail streamer.
other
Spotless Starling
A glossy black starling of Iberia and northwest Africa closely resembling the Common Starling but lacking the pale spangling in breeding plumage.
songbird
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
A plain gray-breasted sparrow of rocky, brushy hillsides, identified by its rufous crown and a bold black malar stripe.
songbird
Rock Partridge
A mountain partridge of the Alps and Balkans, near-identical in plumage to the Chukar, with a black gorget stripe and bold chestnut-barred flanks.
gamebird
Crested Guineafowl
A forest-dwelling guineafowl topped with a distinctive curly, black feather crest instead of the bony casque of its savanna relatives.
gamebird
Common Redpoll
A small, hardy northern finch with a red cap and black chin, known for irruptive winter movements into temperate regions at feeders.
songbird
Antillean Siskin
A small island finch restricted to the mountains of Hispaniola, showing a black head and back set against bright yellow underparts.
songbird
Yellow-throated Warbler
A gray-backed wood-warbler with a bright yellow throat and bold black-and-white facial pattern, often seen creeping along branches in pine and cypress woodland.
songbird
White-throated Caracara
A southern Andean raptor closely related to the Mountain Caracara, distinguished by a white throat patch separated from its white belly by a solid black chest band.
raptor
White-tailed Hawk
A handsome open-country hawk with a gray back, white underparts, rufous shoulders, and a crisp white tail marked by a single bold black band near the tip.
raptor
Swinhoe's Pheasant
A pheasant endemic to Taiwan's mountain forests, showing glossy dark blue-black plumage broken by a striking white band across the back and a bright red face.
gamebird
Straw-necked Ibis
A gregarious Australian ibis with an iridescent black back and odd straw-textured neck plumes, usually seen foraging in large nomadic flocks across open grassland.
wading bird
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
Painted Redstart
A boldly patterned black warbler with a bright red breast patch and large white patches on the wings and outer tail, constantly fanning its tail while foraging.
songbird
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
Marsh Wren
A small, vocal wren of cattail marshes, identified by its bold black-and-white streaked back and habit of singing loudly from within dense reed cover.
songbird
Lark Bunting
A North American prairie songbird whose breeding males turn nearly all black with a bold white wing patch, a striking contrast to the streaky brown females.
songbird
Campo Flicker
A grassland flicker of central South America with a bold white face and black chest patch, usually seen foraging on open ground rather than tree trunks.
woodpecker
California Condor
One of the largest flying birds in the world, with enormous black flight feathers and bold white underwing patches, and a critically endangered population sustained by intensive conservation efforts.
raptor
Bridled Titmouse
The Bridled Titmouse is a small, crested songbird distinguished by its striking black-and-white facial pattern resembling a bridle, found in oak and pine-oak canyons of the borderlands.
songbird
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
A small farmland sparrow distinguished from its House Sparrow relative by a chestnut crown (rather than grey) and a distinct black spot on an otherwise white cheek.
songbird
Green Jay
A vividly patterned jay with a green back, blue-and-black head, and bright yellow outer tail feathers, found in two widely separated populations across the Americas.
corvid
Abdim's Stork
The smallest of the true storks, a compact African species with glossy black-and-white plumage, often associated locally with the arrival of seasonal rains and known for traveling in large flocks.
wading bird