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.
Squacco Heron
A small, unassuming heron that appears dull buff-brown at rest but reveals bright white wings the moment it takes flight.
wading bird
Sulphur-crested Lesser Cockatoo
A smaller relative of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, white overall with a bright yellow crest and a subtle yellow tinge on the ear coverts.
parrot
MacGillivray's Warbler
A western skulking warbler closely resembling the Mourning Warbler but distinguished by bold broken white crescents above and below the eye.
songbird
Little Egret
A dainty white heron of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, best known for its black legs and bright yellow feet.
wading bird
Canada Goose
A large, familiar goose whose black neck feathers set off by a bold white chinstrap patch make it one of the easiest waterfowl to recognize from a single feather cluster.
waterfowl
Tufted Puffin
The largest of the puffins, distinguished from its black-and-white relatives by an almost entirely dark body plumage set off by long, pale yellow head plumes in breeding adults.
seabird
Black Scoter
The Black Scoter is the only scoter whose breeding male shows an entirely black plumage with no white markings at all, set off by a bright orange-yellow knob at the base of the bill.
waterfowl
Brown Noddy
A dark, tropical seabird related to terns, easily told by its uniform chocolate-brown plumage set off by a pale gray-white cap and a long, wedge-shaped tail.
seabird
Blue-winged Teal
A small, long-distance migrant dabbling duck with a pale blue wing patch shared by both sexes, and males showing a bold white facial crescent on a slate-grey head.
waterfowl
Rustic Bunting
The Rustic Bunting is a boreal-forest bunting with breeding males showing a bold black-and-white head pattern set against rufous-streaked upperparts and a rufous breast band.
songbird
European Pied Flycatcher
A small Old World flycatcher in which breeding males show bold black-and-white plumage, while females and nonbreeding males are softer brownish-gray.
songbird
Wandering Albatross
The largest of all flying birds by wingspan, an immense white seabird of the Southern Ocean whose plumage whitens progressively with age over many years.
seabird
Sagebrush Sparrow
A pale gray-headed sparrow of Great Basin sagebrush country, with a white eye-ring and a dark central breast spot.
songbird
Pied Avocet
A crisp black-and-white wader with a black cap and nape, known for its elegant upturned bill and sweeping feeding motion.
shorebird
Cape Bunting
A southern African bunting with a black-and-white striped face and a warm chestnut wing panel, favoring rocky, hilly terrain.
songbird
Black-throated Sparrow
A striking desert sparrow with a bold black throat patch framed by crisp white stripes on an otherwise plain gray face.
songbird
Eurasian Hoopoe
An unmistakable bird with a fan-shaped crest and bold black-and-white barred wings, probing the ground with a long curved bill.
other
Common Redshank
A vocal, alert wader with bright orange-red legs and a bold white trailing edge to the wing that flashes conspicuously in flight.
shorebird
Hairy Woodpecker
A larger look-alike of the Downy Woodpecker, distinguished by its longer bill and plain, unspotted white outer tail feathers.
woodpecker
Great Rosefinch
One of the largest rosefinches, a high-altitude species with deep crimson-pink male plumage flecked with silvery-white spots.
songbird
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
A Texas and Mexican woodpecker with a barred black-and-white back and golden-yellow patches on the nape and face rather than red.
woodpecker
Australian Magpie
A boldly patterned black-and-white Australian songbird famous for its rich, warbling carol and confident presence in parks and farmland.
corvid
Mute Swan
An enormous, entirely white waterbird whose large, gently curved feathers are unmistakable simply by their sheer size among freshwater birds.
waterfowl
Yellow-crowned Woodpecker
A small South Asian woodpecker recognized by a yellow patch on the forecrown, paired with a classic black-and-white barred back and streaked underparts.
woodpecker