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.
Sandhill Crane
A tall North American crane, gray overall but often stained rusty-brown from preening with iron-rich mud, famous for its massive migratory staging flocks and rolling bugle call.
wading bird
Thick-billed Longspur
The Thick-billed Longspur is a shortgrass prairie songbird whose breeding males show a black cap and breast crescent set against gray-brown plumage, identified partly by its notably stout bill.
songbird
Roadside Hawk
A small, common, and conspicuous hawk of the Neotropics, often seen perched along roadsides, identified by its gray-brown chest contrasting with a rufous-barred belly and narrowly banded tail.
raptor
Pallid Harrier
A slender, long-distance migrant harrier of the Eurasian steppe, the palest of the gray harriers, with males showing a narrow black wedge at the wingtip and females a streaky brown 'ringtail' pattern.
raptor
Brown-headed Cowbird
A small blackbird best known for laying its eggs in other birds' nests, with males showing a sharply contrasting brown head against a glossy black body and females entirely plain gray-brown.
songbird
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
Rufous-winged Sparrow
A subtly marked desert sparrow with rufous shoulder patches and a thin dark malar stripe, largely restricted to southern Arizona.
songbird
Spruce Grouse
A boreal forest grouse with dark, densely barred plumage, a black throat patch in males, and a short tail typically tipped with rust-orange.
gamebird
Rameron Pigeon
The Rameron Pigeon, or African Olive Pigeon, is a large, dark montane forest pigeon with a bright yellow bill and legs and pale spotting across its back.
dove pigeon
Brown Wood Owl
The Brown Wood Owl is a large, dark forest owl of South and Southeast Asia known for its rich chocolate-brown plumage and heavily barred underparts.
owl
Daurian Jackdaw
A small East Asian jackdaw that comes in a striking pied form with a white collar and belly, alongside an all-dark morph that resembles other jackdaws.
corvid
Edwards's Pheasant
A rare, glossy dark blue-black pheasant native to the forests of central Vietnam, marked by a short white crest and vivid red facial skin.
gamebird
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
A large, dark cockatoo of southeastern Australia, the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo shows blackish-brown plumage broken by bright yellow patches on the tail and cheek.
parrot
Taita Falcon
A rare, compact cliff-dwelling falcon whose deep rufous underparts and dark slate back make it one of Africa's most striking small raptors.
raptor
Tambourine Dove
The Tambourine Dove is a small forest dove with a strikingly white face and underparts set against brown upperparts marked with dark wing spots.
dove pigeon
Painted Francolin
A ground-dwelling gamebird of central and southern India with dark brown plumage densely marked with white spots and a chestnut nape patch.
gamebird
Northern Fulmar
A stocky, tube-nosed seabird that glides on stiff, straight wings low over the waves, occurring in both pale and uniformly dark color forms.
seabird
Green-barred Woodpecker
A colorful South American flicker relative with an olive-green barred back and bright yellow underparts marked with dark scalloping.
woodpecker
Green Heron
A small, stocky, solitary heron of the Americas with a dark cap, chestnut neck, and greenish-backed wings, often seen crouched at the water's edge.
wading bird
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
Canyon Towhee
The Canyon Towhee is a plain, dusty-brown ground bird of southwestern deserts and canyons, distinguished by a rufous crown and a dark central breast spot.
songbird
Brant
The Brant is a small, dark sea goose marked by a black head, neck, and breast broken by a fine white necklace, closely tied to coastal estuaries and tidal flats.
waterfowl
Blue Bunting
A deep-blue forest bunting of Mexico and Central America, males show brighter blue highlights on the crown, cheek, and rump against an overall dark blue body.
songbird
Black-cheeked Lovebird
A small lovebird with a dark brownish-black face, an orange-tinged forehead and throat, and a green body, restricted to a small region of southern Zambia.
parrot