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.
Lincoln's Sparrow
A finely streaked, secretive sparrow with a buffy breast band, often described as one of the most subtly elegant sparrows.
songbird
Southern Screamer
A large, gray, goose-like bird of southern South American wetlands, marked by a dark collar around the base of the neck and a short crest. Despite its bulky build it is an agile flier, often seen soaring on thermals over open marshland.
other
White-throated Kingfisher
A widespread Asian kingfisher combining a rich chestnut body with a brilliant turquoise back, often perched conspicuously on wires and fence posts.
other
Collared Crow
A large, distinctive East Asian crow with a bold white band across the nape, neck, and breast set against black plumage.
corvid
Little Crow
The smallest of Australia's crow species, adapted to arid interior habitats and often seen in nomadic flocks.
corvid
Black-necked Stork
A tall, striking stork of India and Australia with a glossy iridescent black head and neck, a white body, and bold black-and-white wings, sometimes locally called the Jabiru despite being unrelated to the true American species.
wading bird
Dickinson's Kestrel
Dickinson's Kestrel is a small, short-tailed African kestrel with grey plumage overall and a finely scaled pale back, often associated with palm trees in savanna and woodland of southeastern Africa.
raptor
Piapiac
A slender, glossy black African corvid with a long tail, often seen following cattle or large game to catch flushed insects.
corvid
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
Malachite Kingfisher
A jewel-toned African kingfisher with an electric-blue back and a shaggy blue-and-black crest, often seen perched low over quiet water.
other
Cattle Egret
A stocky white egret often seen far from water, following livestock and machinery to catch insects stirred up from the ground.
wading bird
Abdim's Stork
The smallest of the true storks, a compact African species with glossy black-and-white plumage, often associated locally with the arrival of seasonal rains and known for traveling in large flocks.
wading bird
Bank Myna
A bluish-gray South Asian myna with warm brick-colored underparts and a distinctive patch of bare orange-red skin behind the eye, often found nesting in burrows along riverbanks.
songbird
Piping Plover
A pale, sand-colored North American plover with an often broken black breast band, closely tied to open sandy beaches and alkaline lakeshores.
shorebird
Whistling Heron
A pale, pastel-toned South American heron named for its whistled call, more often found striding through open grassland than wading in deep water.
wading bird
Philadelphia Vireo
The Philadelphia Vireo is a small, plain-plumaged vireo of northern woodlands, often confused with the Warbling Vireo and Tennessee Warbler due to its subtle coloring.
songbird
House Bunting
A North African bunting closely tied to human settlements, often seen around village buildings, walls, and oases.
songbird
Greater Yellowlegs
A tall, alert shorebird with bright yellow legs and a heavy, slightly upturned bill, often the first to sound an alarm call at a wetland.
shorebird
Lewis's Woodpecker
An unusually plumaged western woodpecker with an iridescent greenish-black back, dark red face, and pink-toned belly, often seen flycatching like a crow.
woodpecker
Fieldfare
A boldly patterned, multi-toned thrush combining a grey head and rump with a chestnut back and black tail, often seen in large winter flocks across open farmland.
songbird
Western Kingbird
A pale gray-headed flycatcher with a yellow belly, often seen perched on wires in open country, told by white edges on its blackish tail.
songbird
African Collared-Dove
A pale, sandy-toned dove of African savanna and scrub, best known as the wild ancestor of the domesticated ring-necked dove.
dove pigeon
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
Mongolian Finch
A pale, sandy-toned finch of Central Asian deserts and steppe, showing a subtle rosy wash across the rump and wings.
songbird