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.
Large-billed Crow
A robust, all-black crow found widely across Asia, notable for its deep, arched bill and steep forehead.
corvid
House Sparrow
The House Sparrow is an introduced species whose males show a gray crown, chestnut nape and black throat bib over a streaked brown back, while females are plain buffy-brown.
songbird
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
A small desert woodpecker whose black-and-white back forms a neat, closely spaced ladder pattern, common in cactus and mesquite scrub.
woodpecker
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
House Crow
A slender crow native to South Asia, easily recognized by its glossy black cap paired with a pale grey collar and underparts.
corvid
Koklass Pheasant
A grey-bodied Himalayan pheasant with a bold black-and-white head pattern, a chestnut breast patch, and a distinctive short, wedge-shaped tail.
gamebird
Ground Woodpecker
A highly unusual, almost entirely terrestrial woodpecker of southern African rocky grassland, with pink-flushed underparts and none of the tree-climbing habits of its relatives.
woodpecker
Knob-billed Duck
A large, glossy black-and-white duck of tropical wetlands, best known for the fleshy black knob or comb that swells atop the breeding male's bill.
waterfowl
Greylag Goose
A bulky gray-brown goose, ancestor of most domestic geese breeds, recognized by its heavy orange-pink bill and a pale bluish-gray patch on the forewing.
waterfowl
King Quail
One of the smallest quail species in the world, with males showing a smart slate-blue breast and a bold black-and-white barred throat.
gamebird
Grey-headed Woodpecker
A quieter, grayer relative of the Green Woodpecker found across the forests of Europe and Asia, told by its grey head and much smaller red cap.
woodpecker
King of Saxony Bird-of-paradise
The King of Saxony Bird-of-paradise is instantly recognizable for the male's two extraordinarily long head plumes, lined with small flag-like pennants of a pale, enamel-like blue. It lives in the montane forests of the New Guinea highlands.
songbird
Grey-headed Lovebird
A small lovebird from Madagascar showing strong sexual dimorphism: males have a pale grey head and breast against a green body, while females are entirely green.
parrot
King Bird-of-paradise
The King Bird-of-paradise is the smallest member of its family, with a brilliant crimson-and-white plumage and unusual wire-like tail feathers that end in coiled emerald-green discs. It forages and displays in the lower and middle levels of New Guinea lowland forest.
songbird
Grey-headed Dove
A quiet forest-floor dove of Central America, identified by its pale grey head, white throat, and a faint metallic sheen across the back of its neck.
dove pigeon
Key West Quail-Dove
A richly iridescent Caribbean forest-floor dove with a bold white facial stripe, occasionally straying to the Florida Keys, for which it is named.
dove pigeon
Grey Warbler
The Grey Warbler is one of New Zealand's smallest birds, a plain grey-brown insect-eater best known for its long, trilling song rather than its understated plumage.
songbird
Kentucky Warbler
A bright yellow, olive-backed warbler of the forest floor, marked by bold black stripes framing the face like sideburns and a partial spectacle.
songbird
Grey Wagtail
The Grey Wagtail is a slender, long-tailed songbird whose lemon-yellow underpart feathers contrast with a blue-grey back, making it the most colorful of the European wagtails found along fast-flowing water.
songbird
Kalij Pheasant
A forest pheasant of the Himalayan foothills and South Asia, with males showing overall glossy blue-black plumage and red facial skin, and considerable variation in pale scaling among subspecies.
gamebird
Hazel Grouse
A small, secretive forest grouse of northern Eurasia, best known for its finely patterned gray-brown plumage and a bold black-and-white throat patch in males.
gamebird
Kakariki
A slender, bright green New Zealand parakeet with a distinctive red crown and a long, tapering tail.
parrot
Hawfinch
A bull-necked, massive-billed finch whose wing feathers include uniquely curved, hooked secondaries found in no other European songbird.
songbird
Kaka
A large forest parrot of New Zealand, the Kaka has olive-brown plumage that conceals a flash of bright crimson under the wings and across the rump, revealed in flight.
parrot
Harris's Sparrow
North America's largest sparrow, easily recognized by its bold black face and bib and pink bill.
songbird
Jungle Myna
A slate-gray South Asian myna distinguished by a small tuft of feathers at the base of the bill, along with the bold white wing patch shared with related mynas.
songbird
Harlequin Duck
The Harlequin Duck is a small, boldly patterned sea duck whose male combines slate-blue plumage with crisp white crescents, spots, and stripes outlined in black, resembling a painted harlequin costume.
waterfowl
Jardine's Parrot
Jardine's Parrot is a stocky African forest parrot whose green feathers are neatly edged in black, giving a scaled texture, accented by orange-red patches on the head and shoulders.
parrot
Harris's Hawk
A dark chestnut-brown desert hawk notable for its social, cooperative hunting behavior, with a bold black-and-white tail pattern and chestnut shoulder patches.
raptor
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
Hamerkop
A small brown African wading bird named for its hammer-shaped head, formed by a thick bill and a backward-pointing crest, best known for building enormous domed stick nests.
wading bird
Japanese Quail
A close relative of the Common Quail from East Asia, cloaked in the same streaky brown camouflage but with a warmer rufous wash to the breast.
gamebird
Grey-necked Bunting
A plain, unstreaked Central Asian bunting with a grey head, pale pinkish underparts, and a distinctive pale eye-ring.
songbird
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
A small East Asian woodpecker with a softer, browner overall tone than its pygmy woodpecker relatives, common in wooded parks and gardens in Japan and neighboring regions.
woodpecker
Grey Junglefowl
An Indian forest gamebird whose males have neck hackle feathers tipped with an unusual glassy, wax-like yellow spangle unlike any other bird.
gamebird
James's Flamingo
The smallest of the high-altitude Andean flamingos, showing pale pink plumage and a notably reduced area of black in the wing.
wading bird
Green-cheeked Conure
A small, compact South American conure with green cheeks, a grey-brown crown, and a distinctive maroon-red tail contrasting with its mostly green body.
parrot
Jambu Fruit Dove
A small Southeast Asian fruit dove with a face flushed rosy-crimson, set against green upperparts, clean white underparts, and a chestnut patch beneath the tail.
dove pigeon
Common Tern
A widespread and familiar tern of coasts and inland waters, identified by its black cap, forked tail, red-orange bill with a black tip, and a dark wedge along the leading edge of the outer wing.
seabird
Jamaican Owl
The Jamaican Owl is an island-endemic owl found only in Jamaica's forests and woodlands, with rich brown, finely mottled plumage and short ear tufts.
owl
Green-winged Teal
The North American form of the common teal, and the smallest dabbling duck on the continent, with males showing a chestnut head, a green eye patch, and a bold vertical white stripe on the side.
waterfowl
Jamaican Crow
An endemic Jamaican crow of forested habitats, known for an unusually varied and almost comical vocal repertoire.
corvid
Green-tailed Towhee
The Green-tailed Towhee is a striking western sparrow relative with olive-green wings and tail, a rufous cap, and a bold white throat, found in mountain shrublands.
songbird
Green-naped Lorikeet
The Green-naped Lorikeet is a vividly colored parrot of New Guinea and surrounding islands, distinguished by a clear green band across the nape separating its blue head from its green back.
parrot
Jabiru
The largest flying bird of the Americas, an enormous white stork with a bare black head and neck marked by a distinctive red collar at the base, found in wetlands from Mexico to Argentina.
wading bird
Green Junglefowl
An Indonesian junglefowl covered in glossy, scale-patterned green-black feathers, with a rounded, multicolored comb unlike any other junglefowl species.
gamebird
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker
A small, widespread Asian woodpecker with a grey-brown crown and crisply barred back, closely resembling other pygmy woodpeckers across its broad range.
woodpecker
Island Scrub-Jay
A large, deeply colored scrub-jay found only on Santa Cruz Island off the California coast, notable for its bigger size and richer blue plumage than mainland relatives.
corvid