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.
Tawny Owl
A stocky woodland owl whose bark-patterned, silent-edged feathers make it one of the most cryptically camouflaged birds in the forest.
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Sooty Owl
A dark, striking barn-owl relative of Australian and New Guinean rainforest, its sooty gray-black feathers finely speckled with silvery white, unlike any other owl in its range.
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Grass Owl
A ground-nesting barn-owl relative of tall grasslands from Asia to Australia, with long slender legs and golden-buff to dark brown feathers finely spotted, adapted to a life spent low over open grass.
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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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Brown Fish Owl
A large brown fish-hunting owl of South and Southeast Asian waterways, streaked brown overall, with feathers and bare, bristly lower legs adapted for hunting at the water's edge.
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Little Owl
A small, flat-headed owl whose boldly white-spotted brown feathers and habit of perching in daylight set it apart from Europe's other owls.
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Boreal Owl
A small, secretive owl of northern boreal and subalpine conifer forests, marked by dark brown plumage boldly spotted with white and a distinctive dark-rimmed facial disc.
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Great Grey Owl
The longest owl in the world by overall length, cloaked in soft grey, finely mottled plumage and famous for its huge facial disc marked with distinct concentric rings.
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Barking Owl
An Australian hawk-owl named for its dog-like barking call, gray-brown above and heavily streaked below, favoring open woodland and riverine forest.
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Striped Owl
The Striped Owl is a boldly streaked, long-eared owl of open country across Latin America, easily recognized by its buffy plumage, dark streaking, and prominent ear tufts.
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Fearful Owl
The Fearful Owl is a large, poorly known owl endemic to a few islands in the Solomon Islands, with rich brown, mottled plumage and a rounded, tuftless head.
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Mottled Owl
A medium-sized, ear-tuftless wood owl of Neotropical forest, its feathers finely mottled in dark and pale brown, with whitish eyebrows and buffy, streaked underparts.
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Spotted Owl
An old-growth forest specialist of western North America, dark brown overall with distinctive rounded white spotting across its plumage, dependent on structurally complex mature forest.
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Spectacled Owl
A large Neotropical rainforest owl named for its bold white 'spectacle' markings around the eyes, with a dark chocolate-brown hood and chest band contrasting sharply against a warm buffy-yellow belly.
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Jamaican Owl
The Jamaican Owl is an island-endemic owl found only in Jamaica's forests and woodlands, with rich brown, finely mottled plumage and short ear tufts.
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Powerful Owl
Australia's largest owl, a powerful hawk-owl of eucalypt forest that preys on tree-dwelling mammals, its underparts marked with bold dark chevrons rather than simple streaks or bars.
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Pel's Fishing Owl
Pel's Fishing Owl is a large, rufous-chestnut African owl specialized for hunting fish along rivers and lakes, with bare, unfeathered legs and feet unlike most owls.
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Snowy-browed Owl
This tiny Asian pygmy owl is known for its compact, heavily spotted brown plumage and a pair of dark false eye-spots on the nape that help confuse predators.
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Long-eared Owl
A slender, well-camouflaged owl best known for its long, closely set ear tufts and richly streaked orange-brown plumage, roosting communally in dense conifer stands.
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Cape Eagle-Owl
The Cape Eagle-Owl is a large, powerfully built African owl of rocky hill country, with tawny-buff plumage heavily marked with dark blotches and barring, and prominent ear tufts.
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Buffy Fish Owl
A warm buffy-brown fish-hunting owl of Southeast Asian lowland waterways, streaked with darker brown and equipped with bristly, sparsely feathered feet for gripping slippery prey.
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Short-eared Owl
A wide-ranging owl of open grassland and marsh, notable for hunting in daylight on buoyant, moth-like wingbeats, with streaked buffy-brown plumage and ear tufts so small they are rarely visible.
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African Scops Owl
The African Scops Owl is a tiny, well-camouflaged owl of African savanna woodland, patterned in fine grey or rufous vermiculation that mimics tree bark.
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Pharaoh Eagle-Owl
A pale, sandy-toned eagle-owl of North African and Middle Eastern deserts, its feathers finely streaked and vermiculated to blend with rock and sand.
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