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.
American Barn Owl
A pale, heart-faced owl of open farmland and grassland, instantly recognizable by its golden and grey speckled upperparts, ghostly white underside, and exceptionally soft, silent-flight feathers.
owl
American White Ibis
A common white ibis of the southeastern United States, Central America, and the Caribbean, easily identified by its bright pink-red decurved bill and legs and black wingtips visible in flight.
wading bird
American Three-toed Woodpecker
The North American counterpart of the Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker, a boreal conifer specialist with a yellow-capped male and barred black-and-white flanks.
woodpecker
Passenger Pigeon
Once among the most numerous birds in North America, the Passenger Pigeon was a slender, fast-flying species with a long pointed tail and iridescent neck patch, driven to extinction by the early 1900s.
dove pigeon
Mallard
The world's most familiar duck, identifiable from almost any single wing feather by its glossy blue speculum bordered in white, shared by both sexes.
waterfowl
Canada Jay
A famously tame, fluffy grey jay of the North American boreal forest, known for boldly approaching campers and caching food for winter survival.
corvid
Streaky Seedeater
A plain, heavily streaked African finch typical of highland grassland and forest edge, identified more by its streaky pattern than bright color.
songbird
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
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
Canada Warbler
A slate-blue-gray warbler with bright yellow underparts crossed by a distinctive necklace of black streaks, along with a bold yellow spectacle around the eye.
songbird
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
Black-billed Magpie
A boldly patterned black-and-white corvid of the American West, instantly recognizable by its long, iridescent tail and noisy, sociable habits.
corvid
Bald Eagle
North America's national bird, whose pure white head and tail feathers contrasting with dark brown body plumage make the adult unmistakable, though immatures take years to acquire this pattern.
raptor
Redhead
A medium-large diving duck with a rounded reddish-chestnut head, distinguished from the similar Canvasback by its rounder head shape and darker grey body.
waterfowl
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 Creeper
A tree-trunk specialist whose mottled brown and buff feathers mimic bark texture perfectly, paired with stiff, pointed tail feathers that brace against trunks like a woodpecker's.
songbird
Brown Pelican
A large, dark-bodied pelican of coastal waters, known for its spectacular plunge-diving and a head and neck that change color dramatically with the breeding season.
seabird
Belted Kingfisher
A stocky, large-headed North American kingfisher with a shaggy blue-grey crest and, in females, a distinctive rust-colored belly band.
other
Black Vulture
An all-black scavenger with a short, square tail and distinctive whitish patches near the wingtips, often seen circling in groups or gathered at carcasses.
raptor
Greater Rhea
A large flightless ratite of South American grasslands, with soft, loose grayish-brown plumage and a long neck, related more to ostriches and emus than to typical flying birds.
other
Red Siskin
A small, brilliantly red South American finch with a black hood and wings, now rare in the wild and notable for its striking male plumage.
songbird
Black-necked Swan
A striking South American swan with a pure white body set off by a jet-black head and neck, plus a bright red facial knob at the base of the bill.
waterfowl
Brewer's Sparrow
A plain, pale sparrow closely tied to sagebrush habitat, known for its unusually long, complex, canary-like song.
songbird
Chihuahuan Raven
A desert raven of the American Southwest, smaller than the Common Raven, with hidden white feather bases at the neck.
corvid