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.
White-crowned Pigeon
A dark slate-colored Caribbean pigeon topped with a bright white crown, closely tied to mangrove and coastal forest habitats.
dove pigeon
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
A plain gray-breasted sparrow of rocky, brushy hillsides, identified by its rufous crown and a bold black malar stripe.
songbird
Red-crowned Woodpecker
A small, widespread woodpecker of northern South America with a barred black-and-white back and a bright red crown on males.
woodpecker
Grey Crowned Crane
An African crane instantly recognized by its stiff, golden bristle crown, red throat wattle, and boldly patterned wings combining white, chestnut, and black.
wading bird
Golden-crowned Kinglet
A tiny, hyperactive conifer specialist named for its glowing crown patch, with soft olive body feathers and delicately edged flight feathers scaled to its diminutive size.
songbird
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
A stocky, thick-billed night heron with a bold black-and-white head pattern and a pale, straw-colored crown, often found near crustacean-rich coastal waters.
wading bird
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
Greater Rhea
A large flightless ratite of South American grasslands, with soft, loose grayish-brown plumage and a long neck, related more to ostriches and emus than to typical flying birds.
other
Common Snipe
The Eurasian counterpart of Wilson's Snipe, sharing the same superb camouflage pattern and winnowing tail-feather display, distinguished mainly by subtle wing and tail feather details assessable in the hand.
shorebird
Common Eider
The Common Eider is a large, heavy-bodied sea duck whose male shows a striking white back and breast against a black belly and crown, with a distinctive sloping bill-and-head profile.
waterfowl
Pileated Woodpecker
The largest common North American woodpecker, unmistakable for its crow-like size, deep black body, flaming red crest, and bold white neck stripes.
woodpecker
Common Hill Myna
A glossy black forest myna of South and Southeast Asia, recognized by bright yellow fleshy wattles on the head and a bold white wing patch visible in flight.
songbird
Common Chaffinch
A common European finch with males showing a blue-grey crown and warm pinkish-brown breast, and females a more subdued olive-brown, both sharing bold double white wing bars and a greenish rump.
songbird
Eurasian Teal
The Old World form of the common teal, closely related to the North American Green-winged Teal, told apart chiefly by a horizontal white scapular stripe rather than a vertical flank stripe.
waterfowl
Common Flameback
A gold-backed Southeast Asian woodpecker whose bright red rump and bold black-and-white facial stripes make its shed feathers relatively easy to place among the region's 'flamebacks.'
woodpecker
Eurasian Curlew
Europe and Asia's largest curlew, with a long downcurved bill and streaky grayish-brown plumage, best known for its evocative bubbling call across moorlands and mudflats.
shorebird
American Wigeon
A medium dabbling duck named 'baldpate' for the male's pale cream crown, which contrasts with an iridescent green face patch and a large white shoulder patch visible in flight.
waterfowl
Common Sandpiper
The Old World counterpart to the Spotted Sandpiper, this small brown-and-white shorebird constantly bobs its tail as it forages along freshwater edges.
shorebird
Common Green Pigeon
The Common Green Pigeon is a widespread South Asian pigeon combining yellowish-green plumage with a grey mantle and bright yellow legs.
dove pigeon
Brown Pelican
A large, dark-bodied pelican of coastal waters, known for its spectacular plunge-diving and a head and neck that change color dramatically with the breeding season.
seabird
Clark's Nutcracker
A pale gray, crow-like bird of high mountain pine forests, best known for storing thousands of pine seeds each autumn to survive winter.
corvid
Magellanic Woodpecker
A spectacular, crow-sized woodpecker of Patagonian beech forests, with the male's entire head blazing red and crowned by a distinctive forward-curling crest.
woodpecker
Eurasian Scops Owl
The Eurasian Scops Owl is a small, migratory owl of southern Europe and parts of Asia, known for its cryptic bark-patterned plumage and a monotonous, far-carrying whistled call.
owl
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