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.
White-throated Swift
A boldly patterned black-and-white swift of western cliffs and canyons, easily recognized by its striking contrast and remarkably fast, direct flight.
other
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
An unmistakable flycatcher with an extremely long, deeply forked black-and-white tail and soft salmon-pink flanks against pale gray plumage.
songbird
Robust Woodpecker
A large, striking woodpecker of the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, marked by a prominent red crest and bold black-and-white pattern.
woodpecker
Red Junglefowl
The wild ancestor of the domestic chicken, with males displaying glossy orange-gold neck hackles and long, curved, iridescent black tail feathers.
gamebird
Pied Falconet
A strikingly pied falconet with clean black-and-white plumage and no rufous coloring at all, found across southern China and northern Southeast Asia.
raptor
Nubian Woodpecker
An East African savanna woodpecker with bold black spotting across cream underparts and a barred greenish back, favoring dry thornbush country.
woodpecker
Northern Royal Albatross
One of the largest albatrosses, a mostly white southern seabird with a predominantly black upperwing edged in white, closely related to the Wandering Albatross group.
seabird
Himalayan Snowcock
The largest of the Himalayan alpine gamebirds, marked by a bold white face and throat patch bordered with chestnut and black, and heavily streaked chestnut flanks.
gamebird
Green Junglefowl
An Indonesian junglefowl covered in glossy, scale-patterned green-black feathers, with a rounded, multicolored comb unlike any other junglefowl species.
gamebird
Magnificent Frigatebird
A large, aerial seabird with long angular wings and a deeply forked tail, glossy black in males and marked with a white breast patch in females.
seabird
Little Bittern
The Old World counterpart to the Least Bittern, a tiny, secretive marsh heron with a black cap and back in males and warmer brown tones in females.
wading bird
Lesser Goldfinch
The Lesser Goldfinch is a diminutive southwestern finch whose males show a black or dark green back sharply contrasting with bright yellow underparts.
songbird
Copper Sunbird
A widespread African sunbird whose males appear almost entirely black at a distance but glow coppery-purple and bronze-green in good light.
songbird
Citril Finch
A small mountain finch of southwestern Europe with plain greenish-yellow plumage and a grey nape, lacking the black facial markings of related siskins.
songbird
Double-crested Cormorant
A widespread, glossy black waterbird with a bright orange-yellow throat patch, often seen perched with wings spread to dry after diving.
seabird
Crimson Rosella
The Crimson Rosella is a richly colored Australian parrot, deep red overall with contrasting blue cheeks, wings, and tail, and a black-scalloped back.
parrot
Crested Pigeon
A common Australian pigeon topped with a slender, upright black crest and marked by bold iridescent green-and-purple patches across the folded wing.
dove pigeon
Bullock's Oriole
The western counterpart to the Baltimore Oriole, identified by its orange cheeks, black eyeline and throat stripe, and an unusually large white wing patch.
songbird
Broad-billed Hummingbird
A desert-canyon hummingbird with a bright coral-red, black-tipped bill and a male plumage that glows blue-green from throat to breast.
hummingbird
Asian Koel
A vocal, sexually dimorphic cuckoo found across South and Southeast Asia, males glossy black and females brown with dense pale spotting.
other
Arizona Woodpecker
A woodpecker of southwestern oak canyons notable for its plain brown back, unlike the black-and-white barred pattern of most related species.
woodpecker
Superb Fruit Dove
The Superb Fruit Dove is a small, dazzlingly patterned fruit dove, with males showing a violet crown, orange nape, and a bold grey-and-black breast band against a green body.
dove pigeon
See-see Partridge
A pale, sand-toned partridge of dry mountain slopes, told from its relatives by a soft grey head and chestnut-striped face rather than bold black markings.
gamebird
Rook
A glossy, all-black farmland corvid recognized in life by its bare greyish face skin and shaggy thigh feathering, and in feather form by its strong purple-blue sheen.
corvid