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.
Helmeted Hornbill
The Helmeted Hornbill is a large, distinctive Southeast Asian rainforest bird best known for its solid casque and greatly elongated central tail feathers, which extend far beyond the rest of the tail. Its dark body plumage contrasts with white leg feathers and a long, banded tail.
other
Pine Warbler
A warbler tightly associated with pine forests, showing subdued olive-yellow upperparts, dull yellow underparts, and two whitish wing bars, less flashy than many of its warbler relatives.
songbird
Red Bird-of-paradise
The Red Bird-of-paradise is distinguished by the male's vivid crimson flank plumes and unique curled, ribbon-like black tail wires used in display. It is found only on a small number of islands in the Raja Ampat region of Indonesia.
songbird
Western Marsh Harrier
The Western Marsh Harrier is the largest and darkest of the Eurasian harriers, males showing a distinctive tricolor pattern of grey, brown, and black on the wings and tail, while females and juveniles are largely dark chocolate-brown with a pale creamy crown.
raptor
Surfbird
A stocky, rock-loving shorebird that breeds on remote Alaskan mountain tundra and winters almost entirely along rocky Pacific coastlines, easily told by its bold black tail band and heavily marked breeding underparts.
shorebird
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
Harpy Eagle
The Harpy Eagle is a massive Neotropical forest eagle with a pale grey head, blackish breast band, boldly banded black-and-grey tail, and a distinctive double crest, all suited to powerful ambush hunting beneath the rainforest canopy.
raptor
Mississippi Kite
The Mississippi Kite is a small, elegant grey kite with a pale head, darker grey back and wings, a solid black tail, and long pointed wings, often seen catching flying insects on the wing over open groves and parks.
raptor
Torrent Duck
A slender, streamlined duck specialized for life in swift Andean rivers, with males showing bold black-and-white stripes and females a warm rufous-orange breast. Its stiff, pointed tail helps it brace against rocks in fast current.
waterfowl
Red-naped Sapsucker
A western counterpart to the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, distinguished by a red patch on the nape in addition to the red forehead.
woodpecker
Common Snipe
The Eurasian counterpart of Wilson's Snipe, sharing the same superb camouflage pattern and winnowing tail-feather display, distinguished mainly by subtle wing and tail feather details assessable in the hand.
shorebird
Eurasian Wren
A tiny, round, rufous-brown songbird with fine dark barring across its wings and tail, and a characteristic short tail often held cocked upright, belying an unexpectedly loud voice.
songbird
Cinereous Bunting
A pale, ash-grey bunting of southeastern European and Middle Eastern hillsides, with a faint yellow wash on the throat and underparts.
songbird
Channel-billed Toucan
A widespread Amazonian toucan with a mostly dark bill and warm yellow-orange chest, common in lowland rainforest canopy.
other
Atlantic Canary
The wild ancestor of the domestic canary, a streaky yellow-green island finch native to the Canary Islands, Azores, and Madeira.
songbird
Gilded Flicker
A desert flicker of the Southwest that nests almost exclusively in saguaro cacti and flashes golden-yellow underwings in flight.
woodpecker
Jenday Conure
A brightly colored Brazilian conure with a golden-yellow head and breast, an orange belly, and green back and wings tipped in blue.
parrot
Hyacinth Macaw
The largest of all parrots, entirely deep cobalt blue with bright yellow bare skin around the eye and lower bill.
parrot
Brown-throated Sunbird
A widespread Southeast Asian sunbird with a plain brownish throat, yellow underparts, and a small iridescent purple-and-green shoulder patch.
songbird
Seaside Sparrow
A dark, long-billed sparrow tightly restricted to coastal salt marshes, with a small yellow spot in front of the eye.
songbird
Vesper Sparrow
A streaky grassland sparrow best identified by white outer tail feathers and a small chestnut shoulder patch.
songbird
Lark Sparrow
A boldly patterned sparrow with a striking chestnut-and-white harlequin face pattern and a rounded, white-cornered tail.
songbird
Ruby-cheeked Sunbird
A tiny Southeast Asian sunbird with bronze-green upperparts, an orange-yellow belly, and a small but bright ruby-colored cheek patch.
songbird
Meyer's Parrot
Meyer's Parrot is a small, subtly colored African parrot with a brownish-grey body offset by a turquoise belly and yellow shoulder patches.
parrot