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.
Madagascar Kestrel
A small, adaptable island kestrel whose rufous, black-spotted feathers make it one of the most recognizable raptors found across Madagascar's varied habitats.
raptor
Long-tailed Duck
The Long-tailed Duck is a distinctive sea duck known for the male's elongated central tail feathers and an unusually complex sequence of plumages that change more often than in any other duck.
waterfowl
Little Corella
A predominantly white cockatoo of Australian open country, the Little Corella has a short, low crest and a faint pinkish tinge at the base of its head feathers, visible only when raised.
parrot
Laughing Falcon
A distinctive Neotropical falcon named for its loud, laughing call, with a bold dark facial mask set against a pale cream head that makes its feathers easy to recognize.
raptor
Indian Peafowl
One of the most recognizable birds in the world, with males displaying an iridescent blue neck and an immense fanning train of elongated feathers marked with large eyespots.
gamebird
Carrion Crow
A widespread, all-black generalist corvid whose glossy feathers closely resemble those of the Rook, distinguished mainly by context and subtle shape differences.
corvid
Carolina Wren
A chunky, warm rufous wren of southeastern thickets whose barred tail feathers and loud, ringing song make it one of the most conspicuous small birds around brushy yards.
songbird
Buffy Fish Owl
A warm buffy-brown fish-hunting owl of Southeast Asian lowland waterways, streaked with darker brown and equipped with bristly, sparsely feathered feet for gripping slippery prey.
owl
Blue Jay
The Blue Jay is a large, vocal corvid whose bold blue, black-barred, white-tipped wing and tail feathers are among the most instantly recognizable of any North American songbird.
corvid
Blakiston's Fish Owl
One of the largest owls on Earth, a massive, shaggy fish-hunting owl of remote river forests in the Russian Far East and Japan, with correspondingly huge, loosely structured feathers.
owl
European Greenfinch
A stocky, olive-green finch with a stout conical bill, brightened by bold yellow flashes along the edges of its wing and tail feathers, especially vivid in breeding males.
songbird
Eastern Phoebe
A plain-plumaged flycatcher recognized more by its tail-wagging habit than bright colors, with grayish-brown feathers above and a faint yellow wash on white underparts.
songbird
Eastern Bluebird
A small, vividly colored thrush whose blue feathers are produced by feather structure rather than pigment, giving them a shifting brightness depending on the angle of light.
songbird
Common Redstart
The Common Redstart is a small songbird named for its bright rufous-red tail feathers, which it constantly quivers, contrasting with a slate-grey back and black face in breeding males.
songbird
Iceland Gull
A pale, gentle-faced gull of the North Atlantic Arctic, the Iceland Gull shows pale gray back feathers and white to very pale wingtips, smaller and more delicately built than the similar Glaucous Gull.
seabird
Himalayan Monal
A high-altitude Himalayan pheasant whose male gleams with iridescent green, purple, and bronze plumage, topped by an unusual crest of wire-like, spatula-tipped feathers.
gamebird
Grey Peacock-Pheasant
A grey-brown forest pheasant whose wing and tail feathers are dotted with shimmering blue-green eye-spots, used in display rather than the long trailing tails of many pheasant relatives.
gamebird
Gray Peacock-pheasant
A forest-floor pheasant of South and Southeast Asia whose gray-brown feathers are dotted with brilliant blue-green and purple eyespots, most striking across the spread tail.
gamebird
Golden-crowned Kinglet
A tiny, hyperactive conifer specialist named for its glowing crown patch, with soft olive body feathers and delicately edged flight feathers scaled to its diminutive size.
songbird
Black Crowned Crane
A West and Central African crane closely related to the Grey Crowned Crane, distinguished by darker neck feathering and the same striking golden crest and boldly patterned wings.
wading bird
Bateleur
A striking African eagle relative known for its extremely short tail and rocking, tightrope-walker flight style, with black body plumage, a chestnut back, and pale flight feathers.
raptor
Baltimore Oriole
A vividly colored eastern songbird whose adult males show a striking contrast of flame-orange and black feathers, best known for weaving an elaborate hanging nest.
songbird
Wood Duck
One of the most ornately feathered ducks in the world, with males showing an iridescent crested head and boldly patterned body, and females recognizable by a distinctive white teardrop eye patch.
waterfowl
Ruddy Turnstone
A boldly patterned, harlequin-like shorebird known for flipping stones and debris in search of food, with breeding feathers combining rufous, black, and white in a striking tortoiseshell pattern.
shorebird