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.
Indian Eagle-Owl
A large, tawny-buff eagle-owl of rocky ravines and scrub across the Indian subcontinent, its feathers boldly streaked and barred in dark brown against a warm buff ground.
owl
Black-capped Chickadee
The Black-capped Chickadee is a tiny, non-migratory songbird whose soft black-and-white head feathers and plain gray back make it a familiar year-round feeder visitor.
songbird
Inca Dove
A small, pale dove with an overall scaly appearance created by dark-edged feathers, common around towns and arid scrub of the southwestern United States and Mexico.
dove pigeon
Black-browed Albatross
One of the most widespread and abundant albatrosses, readily identified by a bold dark stripe through the eye that gives it a permanently stern, 'browed' expression.
seabird
Iceland Gull
A pale, gentle-faced gull of the North Atlantic Arctic, the Iceland Gull shows pale gray back feathers and white to very pale wingtips, smaller and more delicately built than the similar Glaucous Gull.
seabird
Black-billed Magpie
A boldly patterned black-and-white corvid of the American West, instantly recognizable by its long, iridescent tail and noisy, sociable habits.
corvid
Hyacinth Macaw
The largest of all parrots, entirely deep cobalt blue with bright yellow bare skin around the eye and lower bill.
parrot
Barbary Falcon
A desert-adapted relative of the Peregrine Falcon, paler and more rufous-toned, occupying arid cliffs and open desert from North Africa across the Middle East.
raptor
Hutton's Vireo
Hutton's Vireo is a stocky, kinglet-like resident of Pacific coast evergreen woodlands, identified by its bold broken eyering and white wing bars.
songbird
Band-tailed Pigeon
A large forest pigeon of the western mountains, identified by a crescent-shaped white patch on the nape and a broad pale band across the tip of an otherwise dark tail.
dove pigeon
Hume's Owl
Hume's Owl is a pale, desert-adapted tawny owl of the Middle East whose sandy, finely barred feathers blend seamlessly with rock and canyon walls.
owl
Barred Forest Falcon
A secretive Neotropical raptor of the forest understory, known for its loud repeated dawn calls and short, rounded wings built for chasing prey through dense vegetation.
raptor
Hudsonian Godwit
A long-distance migrant godwit with deep chestnut, heavily barred breeding plumage and distinctive black underwing coverts, known for undertaking one of the longest nonstop overwater flights of any shorebird.
shorebird
Baird's Sandpiper
A long-winged, buff-toned sandpiper whose folded wingtips extend noticeably past the tail, giving it an elongated, tapered silhouette.
shorebird
House Wren
A plain grayish-brown wren common in yards and gardens across the Americas, identifiable by fine dark barring on its short, often-cocked tail feathers.
songbird
Azure Jay
A richly blue-bodied jay of South America's Atlantic Forest, with a black head and breast that sharply set off its azure plumage.
corvid
House Finch
The House Finch is a common feeder finch whose male feathers show a diet-dependent red-to-orange wash on the head and breast over a brown-streaked body, while females are plain streaked brown.
songbird
Bank Swallow
A small, plain brown-and-white swallow told from other species by a clean brown breast band across otherwise white underparts.
songbird
House Bunting
A North African bunting closely tied to human settlements, often seen around village buildings, walls, and oases.
songbird
Banded Kestrel
The Banded Kestrel is a Madagascar-endemic falcon marked by fine, dense barring across nearly the entire body, giving it a distinctly patterned appearance among kestrels.
raptor
Hooded Warbler
A vivid yellow-faced warbler whose adult males wear a complete black hood over the crown, nape, and throat, framing the bright yellow face like a cowl.
songbird
Bare-eyed Cockatoo
A small white cockatoo with an inconspicuous crest and distinctive bare bluish-white skin encircling the eye.
parrot
Hooded Oriole
A slender oriole closely tied to palm trees, with adult males showing a bright orange-yellow hood set off by a black face, throat, and back, and a notably curved bill.
songbird
Barbary Partridge
A North African partridge distinguished from its close relatives by a chestnut necklace speckled with white spots rather than a solid black gorget.
gamebird
Hooded Crane
A small, dark East Asian crane with a white head and upper neck resembling a hood, contrasting sharply with its otherwise slate-grey to blackish body.
wading bird
Bamboo Partridge
A grayish-brown East Asian partridge marked by a warm chestnut face and throat patch, favoring dense bamboo and scrub cover.
gamebird
Hoatzin
An unusual, primitive-looking bird of Amazonian and Orinoco wetlands, with a spiky rufous crest, bright blue bare facial skin, and reddish eyes, known for chicks with clawed wings used to climb.
other
Bald Eagle
North America's national bird, whose pure white head and tail feathers contrasting with dark brown body plumage make the adult unmistakable, though immatures take years to acquire this pattern.
raptor
Hoary Redpoll
A pale, frosty-looking northern finch closely related to the Common Redpoll, breeding at even higher latitudes across the Arctic.
songbird
Baya Weaver
A social South and Southeast Asian weaverbird famed for its hanging retort-shaped nests, breeding males showing a bright yellow crown against a buffy-brown body.
songbird
Himalayan Woodpecker
A larger Himalayan pied woodpecker distinguished from lowland relatives by its barred, rather than solid black, upperparts and a red vent.
woodpecker
Barred Owl
A large, round-headed owl of eastern North American forests, known for its dark eyes and the distinctive combination of horizontal chest barring and vertical belly streaking on its plumage.
owl
Himalayan Monal
A high-altitude Himalayan pheasant whose male gleams with iridescent green, purple, and bronze plumage, topped by an unusual crest of wire-like, spatula-tipped feathers.
gamebird
Bat Falcon
The Bat Falcon is a small, dashing falcon of Neotropical forests, black above with a rufous throat patch and a boldly black-and-white barred belly, often hunting bats and swifts at dusk.
raptor
Hermit Warbler
The Hermit Warbler has a brilliant yellow head, black throat, and plain gray back, and it breeds high in tall conifer forests along the Pacific coast.
songbird
Barnacle Goose
A small, sharply patterned goose with a bold black-and-white face and finely barred silver-gray flanks, breeding on Arctic cliffs and wintering on coastal grassland.
waterfowl
Hermit Thrush
A quiet, spot-breasted thrush best known for its habit of slowly raising and lowering its rufous tail, a useful clue among the similar brown Catharus thrushes.
songbird
Barn Owl
An elegant, heart-faced owl whose golden, finely speckled upperparts and ghostly pale underside make its feathers instantly distinctive among owls.
owl
Hepatic Tanager
A dusky-red tanager of pine-oak mountain forest, the male Hepatic Tanager is brick-red overall with a subtle grayish cheek patch and a dark bill.
songbird
Barn Swallow
The classic long-tailed swallow of barns and bridges, with glossy steel-blue upperparts, a rusty throat, and elongated outer tail feathers tipped with white spots.
songbird
Hen Harrier
The Hen Harrier is a slim Old World raptor known for pale grey males nicknamed 'grey ghosts,' brown streaked females and juveniles often called 'ringtails,' and a bold white rump patch shared by all ages, hunting low over moorland and open country.
raptor
Andean Flamingo
A high-altitude Andean flamingo distinguished by yellow legs and a black tail contrasting with pale pink body plumage.
wading bird
Helmeted Guineafowl
An African savanna gamebird with a bare, helmeted head and dark plumage covered in small pearl-white spots, now farmed and kept ornamentally around the world.
gamebird
Australasian Swamphen
The Australasian Swamphen is a large, deep blue-purple rail with a red bill and shield, a familiar sight striding through wetlands and adjacent grassy areas.
wading bird
Heermann's Gull
A distinctively dark-bodied Pacific coast gull with a bright red bill, most easily recognized outside the nesting season by its uniform sooty-gray plumage contrasting with a white head.
seabird
Asian Openbill
A medium-sized South and Southeast Asian stork named for the distinctive gap between its upper and lower mandibles, an adaptation for handling its favored prey, with greyish-white plumage and black flight feathers.
wading bird
Hawaiian Crow
A critically rare Hawaiian corvid with softer, browner plumage than mainland crows, subject to intensive conservation efforts after disappearing from the wild.
corvid
Australian King Parrot
A brightly colored parrot of eastern Australian forests, the male Australian King Parrot has a vivid red head and underparts against green wings and back, while females are almost entirely green.
parrot