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.
Olive Sparrow
The Olive Sparrow is a shy, thicket-dwelling sparrow of south Texas brushland, identified by its olive-green back and chestnut-striped crown.
songbird
Nelson's Sparrow
A softly patterned marsh sparrow with a blurry orange face and grayish back streaking, found in both interior and coastal wetlands.
songbird
Botteri's Sparrow
Botteri's Sparrow is a plain, grassland-loving sparrow of the Southwest, known for its dry, accelerating trill delivered from grass stems.
songbird
Baird's Sparrow
An elusive prairie sparrow with a warm ochre crown stripe and fine necklace-like streaking, tied closely to intact native grassland.
songbird
Bachman's Sparrow
Bachman's Sparrow is a secretive southeastern songbird best known for its long, sweet, whistled song delivered from a low perch in open pine woods.
songbird
Red-tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed Hawk is a widespread North American buteo best known for its brick-red adult tail, pale underparts with a dark belly band, and broad, rounded wings often seen soaring over open country and roadsides.
raptor
Zone-tailed Hawk
A blackish hawk that closely mimics the flight silhouette and dark coloring of the Turkey Vulture, distinguished mainly by its banded tail feathers.
raptor
White-tailed Hawk
A handsome open-country hawk with a gray back, white underparts, rufous shoulders, and a crisp white tail marked by a single bold black band near the tip.
raptor
Red-shouldered Hawk
The Red-shouldered Hawk is a woodland buteo with rufous-barred underparts, reddish shoulder patches, a boldly black-and-white banded tail, and a translucent pale crescent near the wingtip visible in flight.
raptor
Northern Hawk-Owl
A falcon-like, day-hunting owl of the boreal forest, with a long tail, pointed wings, and boldly barred underparts, often seen perched conspicuously atop treetops scanning for prey.
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Common Black Hawk
A stocky, broad-winged hawk of wooded streams and mangroves, easily told from other dark raptors by its nearly all-black plumage crossed by a single wide white tail band.
raptor
Black-collared Hawk
A striking rufous-orange wetland hawk of the Neotropics, immediately recognizable by its pale creamy head and the narrow black band crossing its upper chest.
raptor
African Harrier-Hawk
A distinctive gray African raptor known for its bare, color-changing facial skin and unusually flexible double-jointed legs, used to probe tree holes and nests for prey.
raptor
Fox Sparrow
A large, richly colored sparrow whose reddish tail and heavily spotted breast make its feathers among the most distinctive of any North American sparrow.
songbird
Sharp-shinned Hawk
The Sharp-shinned Hawk is North America's smallest accipiter, with short rounded wings, a long square-tipped banded tail, and adult plumage of slate-grey upperparts with fine rufous barring below, built for darting through dense cover.
raptor
Rough-legged Hawk
The Rough-legged Hawk is an Arctic-breeding buteo with a pale tail base and dark terminal band, a dark belly patch, and dark carpal patches on the underwing, plus legs feathered fully to the toes for insulation.
raptor
Ornate Hawk-Eagle
A powerful Neotropical forest raptor with a bold black crest, rufous cheeks and neck, and crisp black-and-white barring across the underparts, built for hunting within the forest canopy.
raptor
Brown Hawk-Owl
The Brown Hawk-Owl is a widespread Asian owl with a hawk-like, tuftless head, dark brown upperparts, and rufous-streaked white underparts.
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Broad-winged Hawk
The Broad-winged Hawk is a compact, forest-nesting buteo with rufous-barred underparts and a short tail marked by bold, wide black-and-white bands, famous for gathering in enormous migrating flocks called 'kettles.'
raptor
Papuan Hawk-Owl
A little-known, long-tailed forest owl endemic to New Guinea, with a hawk-like reduced facial disc and boldly barred underparts.
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Vesper Sparrow
A streaky grassland sparrow best identified by white outer tail feathers and a small chestnut shoulder patch.
songbird
Song Sparrow
The Song Sparrow is a widespread, geographically variable sparrow whose brown-streaked feathers often converge into a distinctive central dark spot on the breast.
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
Savannah Sparrow
A common, finely streaked grassland sparrow with a short notched tail and a hint of yellow over the eye, blending easily into open fields.
songbird