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.
Japanese Grosbeak
A large, heavy-billed finch of East Asian forests, recognized by its black head, gray-brown body, and oversized pale-yellow bill.
songbird
Loggerhead Shrike
A compact gray predator songbird with a black bandit mask and a hooked bill, known for impaling prey on thorns and barbed wire.
songbird
Black-winged Kite
The Old World counterpart of the White-tailed Kite, a small pale gray-and-white raptor with a black shoulder patch and striking red eyes.
raptor
Black-chinned Sparrow
A gray-headed sparrow of arid chaparral slopes, with breeding males showing a distinctive black chin and throat patch.
songbird
Bamboo Partridge
A grayish-brown East Asian partridge marked by a warm chestnut face and throat patch, favoring dense bamboo and scrub cover.
gamebird
Takahe
The Takahe is a large, flightless New Zealand rail with deep blue-green plumage and a massive red bill, once thought extinct before being rediscovered in remote alpine country.
wading bird
White-crowned Sparrow
The White-crowned Sparrow is a clean, handsome sparrow with a bold black-and-white striped crown set above a plain, unstreaked gray face and breast.
songbird
California Scrub-Jay
A crestless, blue-and-gray jay of California's oak woodlands and gardens, showing a blue necklace across a whitish throat and gray-brown back.
corvid
Common Greenshank
A tall, pale gray shorebird with greenish legs and a long, slightly upturned bill, the Old World counterpart to the yellowlegs.
shorebird
Great Crested Flycatcher
A large woodland flycatcher with a bushy crest, gray throat, and bright yellow belly, showing rufous flashes in the wings and tail.
songbird
Ash-throated Flycatcher
A pale desert-country flycatcher with an ashy-gray throat, soft yellow belly wash, and a rufous tail that flashes when it flies.
songbird
Western Wood-Pewee
A plain, grayish-olive flycatcher of western woodlands, nearly identical to the Eastern Wood-Pewee but told apart mainly by voice and range.
songbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
An unmistakable flycatcher with an extremely long, deeply forked black-and-white tail and soft salmon-pink flanks against pale gray plumage.
songbird
Red-eyed Vireo
The Red-eyed Vireo is a common, persistent-singing woodland bird with a bold gray-and-white head pattern and, in adults, a distinctive red iris.
songbird
Least Flycatcher
One of the smallest Empidonax flycatchers, notable for its bold white eye-ring and crisp wing bars against grayish-olive plumage.
songbird
European Pied Flycatcher
A small Old World flycatcher in which breeding males show bold black-and-white plumage, while females and nonbreeding males are softer brownish-gray.
songbird
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
Blood Pheasant
A high-altitude Himalayan pheasant with finely streaked gray-green plumage washed with blood-red highlights across the face, breast, and tail.
gamebird
Black-crowned Night Heron
A stocky, short-necked heron with striking red eyes, most active at dusk and night, sporting a glossy black cap and back against pale gray wings.
wading bird
Lineolated Parakeet
A small, stocky green parakeet finely marked with dark barring across the back and wings.
parrot
Dwarf Cassowary
The smallest of the three cassowary species, this flightless New Guinea rainforest bird has coarse, hair-like black plumage and blue bare skin on the face and neck. It lacks the throat wattles of its larger relatives and has a low, modest casque.
other
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-backed Shrike
A small Eurasian shrike with strongly different male and female plumages, the male showing a gray head, chestnut back, and black bandit mask.
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