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.
Snowy Owl
A large, striking white owl of the high Arctic, whose feathers vary from nearly pure white in adult males to heavily barred in females and young birds, all cushioned by exceptionally dense feathering for cold protection.
owl
Wilson's Phalarope
A slim, needle-billed shorebird of prairie wetlands, Wilson's Phalarope shows a striking chestnut neck stripe in breeding plumage and plain gray-and-white feathers otherwise, unusual among birds for its reversed sexual dichromatism.
shorebird
Black-and-white Warbler
A boldly striped, zebra-patterned wood-warbler that creeps along tree trunks and branches nuthatch-style, entirely lacking yellow or green tones.
songbird
Rock Pigeon
A stocky, familiar city bird whose feather color is famously variable, though wild-type individuals retain a blue-gray body with two dark wingbars and an iridescent green-purple neck.
dove pigeon
Cedar Waxwing
A sleek, crested bird best known for the small, waxy red tips on its secondary wing feathers, paired with a soft brown-to-gray body and a bright yellow band across the tail tip.
songbird
African Spoonbill
An all-white African wading bird with a red face and legs, identified by its plain white plumage and grey spoon-shaped bill without a crest.
wading bird
Snail Kite
A marsh-dwelling raptor with a thin, deeply curved bill for extracting apple snails, and feathers ranging from slaty gray in males to warm streaked brown in females and young birds.
raptor
Eurasian Hoopoe
An unmistakable bird with a fan-shaped crest and bold black-and-white barred wings, probing the ground with a long curved bill.
other
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
A large all-white cockatoo with a tall sulphur-yellow crest that fans forward when the bird is alert or excited.
parrot
Whiskered Tern
A compact marsh tern that turns a striking dark slate-gray across the body in breeding plumage, with a crisp white stripe dividing the black cap from the gray cheek.
seabird
Taiwan Blue Magpie
Taiwan's national bird, a richly blue-bodied corvid with a black head, red bill, and an exceptionally long tail tipped in white.
corvid
Giant Kingfisher
Africa's largest kingfisher, a bulky black-and-white bird with a shaggy crest, hunting fish along forested rivers and rocky streams.
other
American Robin
The American Robin is a familiar thrush whose warm orange breast feathers and plain gray-brown back feathers make it one of the easiest yard birds to identify from a single dropped feather.
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
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
Southern Screamer
A large, gray, goose-like bird of southern South American wetlands, marked by a dark collar around the base of the neck and a short crest. Despite its bulky build it is an agile flier, often seen soaring on thermals over open marshland.
other
Downy Woodpecker
The smallest North American woodpecker, its black-and-white checkered feathers and short bill make it a common and easily identified backyard bird.
woodpecker
California Condor
One of the largest flying birds in the world, with enormous black flight feathers and bold white underwing patches.
raptor
Limpkin
A brown, white-spotted wading bird related to both rails and cranes, known for its loud, wailing calls and long, slightly downcurved bill.
wading bird
Common Ostrich
The world's largest living bird, flightless with soft, loose plumage, males black-bodied with striking white plumes and females duller greyish-brown.
other
Northern Mockingbird
A slim gray songbird famous for its vocal mimicry, identifiable by the bold white patches on its wings and the white outer edges of its long tail.
songbird
Great Spotted Woodpecker
The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a striking black-and-white bird with bold white wing patches, a crimson undertail, and stiff, pointed tail feathers adapted for bracing against tree trunks while excavating and drumming.
woodpecker
American Herring Gull
The North American counterpart to the Eurasian Herring Gull, the American Herring Gull shows very similar pale gray-and-white plumage with black wingtip spots, but with subtly darker gray tones and pinkish legs.
seabird
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