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.
Pied Wagtail
The Pied Wagtail is a slender black-and-white songbird best known for its constantly pumping tail, with crisp black-and-white feathering that gives it a strongly contrasting, checkered appearance.
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
Wilson's Snipe
A secretive, superbly camouflaged marsh bird whose intricately patterned brown-and-buff feathers provide near-perfect concealment among wetland vegetation, with narrow outer tail feathers used to produce an eerie winnowing sound in flight.
shorebird
Swallow-tailed Kite
A graceful, boldly two-toned raptor with a deeply forked tail, whose sharp black-and-white feathers are unlike almost any other North American bird of prey.
raptor
Reed Bunting
The Reed Bunting is a wetland-associated songbird whose breeding males show a striking black head and white collar against streaked brown upperparts, while females and winter birds are more subtly patterned brown.
songbird
White Peafowl
A striking all-white color variant of the Indian Peafowl, retaining the species' iconic train shape and fanning display despite lacking the typical iridescent blue-green coloring.
gamebird
Spur-winged Goose
One of the largest waterfowl species in the world, a bulky African goose with glossy black-green upperparts, white underparts, and bare red facial skin.
waterfowl
Dwarf Cassowary
The smallest of the three cassowary species, this flightless New Guinea rainforest bird has coarse, hair-like black plumage and blue bare skin on the face and neck. It lacks the throat wattles of its larger relatives and has a low, modest casque.
other
Emperor Goose
A small, stocky goose with a bold black-and-white scalloped body pattern, a white head and neck often stained rust-orange, and a black throat.
waterfowl
Common Whitethroat
A small, active warbler with a bright white throat contrasting a grey head, and warm chestnut fringes on the wing feathers that add color to an otherwise modest bird.
songbird
Willow Ptarmigan
The largest of the ptarmigan species, showing warm reddish-brown summer plumage in males, a pure white winter coat, and a black tail retained throughout the year.
gamebird
Common Shelduck
A boldly patterned, goose-sized duck with a crisp white body, a glossy dark green head, a broad chestnut band across the breast and back, and solid black flight feathers.
waterfowl
Red-headed Woodpecker
One of the most strikingly patterned North American woodpeckers, with an entirely crimson-red head set against bold black-and-white body plumage.
woodpecker
Sabine's Gull
A strikingly patterned Arctic-breeding gull whose bold black, white, and gray tricolored wing pattern and forked tail make it one of the most distinctive gulls in flight.
seabird
Elliot's Pheasant
A richly patterned Chinese forest pheasant, with males showing a chestnut body, blue-grey head, crisp white throat patch, and a long chestnut tail barred in black and white.
gamebird
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
Crested Argus
A secretive forest pheasant renowned for the male's extraordinarily long tail feathers, among the longest of any bird, patterned with rows of pale eyespots. A tall, erectile crest and bare blue facial skin round out its distinctive appearance.
gamebird
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
Mute Swan
An enormous, entirely white waterbird whose large, gently curved feathers are unmistakable simply by their sheer size among freshwater birds.
waterfowl
Sunbittern
A slender, heron-like bird whose subdued, bark-patterned plumage conceals a spectacular sunburst of chestnut, black, and buff revealed on the wings during display or flight. It stalks quietly along forest streams in the American tropics.
other
Painted Redstart
A boldly patterned black warbler with a bright red breast patch and large white patches on the wings and outer tail, constantly fanning its tail while foraging.
songbird
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
Golden Eagle
A powerful upland raptor whose dark brown plumage and golden nape feathers give it its name, with young birds showing crisp white flight-feather patches that fade with age.
raptor