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.
Least Tern
The smallest tern in North America, a diminutive, fast-flying species of sandy beaches and river sandbars, easily told by its small size, yellow bill, and white forehead patch above the black cap.
seabird
Common Bullfinch
A stocky, shy woodland finch with males showing rosy-pink underparts against a blue-grey back and black cap, and both sexes sharing a bold white rump patch that flashes distinctively in flight.
songbird
Cape Crow
A slender, all-black crow of southern and eastern Africa's open grasslands, notable for its long, thin bill.
corvid
Superb Bird-of-paradise
The Superb Bird-of-paradise appears almost entirely black at rest, but the male can erect an oval nape cape and a shimmering blue-green breast shield into a striking, wide silhouette during courtship display. It is found in the montane forests of New Guinea.
songbird
Palm Cockatoo
A large, distinctive black cockatoo with a shaggy crest and bright red bare facial skin that can flush more intensely when the bird is excited.
parrot
Common Green Magpie
A vividly green forest corvid with a bold black mask and chestnut wing patch, whose color can fade toward blue in old feathers.
corvid
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
A striking pheasant of dense mountain thickets in southwestern China, with males showing a black-and-white scaled cape, a red crest, and one of the longest tails of any pheasant.
gamebird
Satyr Tragopan
A vivid crimson Himalayan pheasant whose male is covered in white-centered black-bordered spots and can inflate a strikingly patterned blue throat lappet during display.
gamebird
Purple-throated Carib
A Lesser Antillean hummingbird whose deep green body sets off a brilliant magenta-purple throat patch that can look nearly black until it catches direct light.
hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
The only breeding hummingbird across most of eastern North America, males carry a brilliant iridescent red throat patch that can flash black in poor light, set against emerald-green upperparts.
hummingbird