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.
Great Blue Heron
The largest heron in North America, a slow-stalking hunter of shallow water with a slate-blue body and a dagger-like yellow bill.
wading bird
Blue-winged Teal
A small, long-distance migrant dabbling duck with a pale blue wing patch shared by both sexes, and males showing a bold white facial crescent on a slate-grey head.
waterfowl
Blue-winged Parrotlet
The Blue-winged Parrotlet is a tiny, widespread South American parrot in which males show a notable patch of blue across the wing coverts.
parrot
Blue-throated Macaw
A large blue-and-yellow macaw with a distinctive patch of blue feathers on the throat, native to a small area of seasonally flooded savanna in Bolivia.
parrot
Blue-headed Vireo
The Blue-headed Vireo shows a contrasting blue-gray head, bold white spectacles, and white wing bars, making it one of the more readily identified vireos.
songbird
Blue-gray Tanager
One of the most familiar tanagers of Central and South America, the Blue-gray Tanager shows an overall soft blue-gray body accented by a brighter blue shoulder patch.
songbird
Blue Bird-of-paradise
The Blue Bird-of-paradise is known for the male's dramatic upside-down display, during which fanned iridescent blue flank plumes are shown off against otherwise black plumage. It lives in the montane forests of Papua New Guinea's central highlands.
songbird
Blue-and-yellow Macaw
A large, brilliantly two-toned macaw with deep blue upperparts and golden-yellow underparts, a green forehead patch, and bare white facial skin crossed by narrow lines of small feathers.
parrot
Blue-winged Kookaburra
A northern relative of the Laughing Kookaburra, distinguished by more extensive blue in the wings and a harsher, less musical call.
other
Taiwan Blue Magpie
Taiwan's national bird, a richly blue-bodied corvid with a black head, red bill, and an exceptionally long tail tipped in white.
corvid
Blue-winged Warbler
A bright yellow-headed warbler with blue-gray wings marked by two white wing bars and a thin black line through the eye, closely related to and often hybridizing with the Golden-winged Warbler.
songbird
Blue-necked Tanager
A brilliantly patterned South American tanager with a glossy blue head and neck set off by black upperparts and a warm chestnut belly patch.
songbird
Blue-headed Parrot
A stocky, short-tailed parrot with a striking sky-blue head contrasting against green body plumage.
parrot
Blue Ground Dove
A small, strikingly dimorphic dove-pale powder-blue in males, warm rufous-brown in females-both patterned with bold blackish spots across the wings.
dove pigeon
Blue-fronted Amazon
The Blue-fronted Amazon is a stocky green parrot from central South America best known for the pale blue patch across its forehead and its loud, far-carrying calls.
parrot
Blue-footed Booby
A tropical seabird best known for its bright blue feet, with brown mottled upperparts, streaked head and neck, and a clean white belly.
seabird
Blue-crowned Motmot
A striking green forest bird with a blue crown outlined in black and a long tail ending in distinctive racket-shaped tips. It perches quietly and is best known for slowly swinging its tail like a pendulum.
other
Blue-crowned Conure
A robust green conure identified by a pale blue wash across the crown and forehead, larger and stockier than many similarly colored South American parakeets.
parrot
Yellow-billed Blue Magpie
A Himalayan blue magpie closely resembling its red-billed relative, distinguished mainly by its yellow bill and slightly higher-elevation habitat.
corvid
Red-billed Blue Magpie
A long-tailed, blue-grey Asian corvid with a black head, red bill and legs, and a spectacular graduated tail tipped in white.
corvid
Greater Blue-eared Starling
A dazzling African starling with metallic blue-green plumage, a darker blue ear patch, and violet-tinged flanks that shimmer in sunlight.
songbird
Blue-throated Mountain-gem
A large mountain-canyon hummingbird known for its deep blue throat patch and an unusually broad, dark tail edged with bold white corners.
hummingbird
Black-throated Blue Warbler
A striking deep-blue wood-warbler with black face and flanks in the male, breeding in eastern deciduous forests with a dense shrub layer.
songbird
Blue-tailed Bee-eater
A slender green bee-eater with a distinctive blue tail and rump, common across South and Southeast Asian lowlands.
other