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-faced Heron
The most widespread heron in Australia and New Zealand, easily recognized by its soft blue-grey plumage set off by a clean white face.
wading bird
Thick-billed Siskin
A high-Andean finch notable for its unusually stout, heavy bill relative to other siskins, paired with a black head and yellow-olive body.
songbird
White-eared Hummingbird
A small montane hummingbird instantly recognizable by its broad white stripe behind the eye, set against a violet crown and green throat.
hummingbird
Tawny Eagle
A variably colored eagle of Africa's open plains, ranging from pale sandy-tawny to dark blackish-brown among individuals, generally lacking the bold markings seen in many other eagles.
raptor
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
Tennessee Warbler
A plainly patterned warbler with a gray head, white eyebrow stripe, and whitish underparts, notable for its unmarked, wing-bar-free appearance and boreal breeding range.
songbird
White-cheeked Pintail
A Caribbean and South American dabbling duck with a sharply demarcated white cheek and throat patch set against a dark crown, and a warm buffy body heavily marked with dark spots.
waterfowl
Swinhoe's Pheasant
A pheasant endemic to Taiwan's mountain forests, showing glossy dark blue-black plumage broken by a striking white band across the back and a bright red face.
gamebird
White-capped Bunting
A South Asian bunting whose breeding males show a bold white crown bordered in black above a chestnut breast band.
songbird
Swift Parrot
A fast-flying, slender Australian parrot with a bright red face and throat set against green plumage.
parrot
White-breasted Nuthatch
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a tree-climbing songbird whose clean blue-gray back and pure white face and breast feathers are easy to separate from most other backyard species.
songbird
Tamaulipas Crow
One of the smallest North American crows, native to northeastern Mexico with a small range extending into southern Texas.
corvid
White-bellied Sea Eagle
The White-bellied Sea Eagle is a large raptor with a white head, body, and tail contrasting against grey upperwings, typically seen soaring over coasts and large waterways.
raptor
Takahe
The Takahe is a large, flightless New Zealand rail with deep blue-green plumage and a massive red bill, once thought extinct before being rediscovered in remote alpine country.
wading bird
Whistling Kite
A common, pale kite of Australia and New Guinea best known for its far-carrying whistled call, with buff-brown body feathers contrasting against darker flight feathers in flight.
raptor
Temminck's Stint
A small, plain-plumaged stint that favors quiet freshwater edges over open mudflats, distinguished from its rufous relatives by generally duller upperpart feathers and distinctive white outer tail feathers.
shorebird
Whistling Heron
A pale, pastel-toned South American heron named for its whistled call, more often found striding through open grassland than wading in deep water.
wading bird
Tawny Owl
A stocky woodland owl whose bark-patterned, silent-edged feathers make it one of the most cryptically camouflaged birds in the forest.
owl
Whimbrel
A widespread curlew with a moderately long, downcurved bill and bold dark stripes on the crown, the Whimbrel shows grayish-brown feathers with fine barring adapted for camouflage on tundra and mudflats alike.
shorebird
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
Western Wood-Pewee
A plain, grayish-olive flycatcher of western woodlands, nearly identical to the Eastern Wood-Pewee but told apart mainly by voice and range.
songbird
Tacazze Sunbird
A large highland sunbird of East Africa with elongated central tail feathers and male plumage that gleams deep purple and green in good light.
songbird
Western Tanager
A colorful western North American forest songbird, the breeding male Western Tanager combines a yellow body and black wings with a striking orange-red wash across the head.
songbird
Syrian Woodpecker
A close look-alike of the Great Spotted Woodpecker found across southeastern Europe and the Middle East, best separated by an incomplete black neck bar and a paler pink vent.
woodpecker
Western Sandpiper
A tiny sandpiper with black legs and a long, slightly drooped bill, showing rufous highlights on the crown and scapulars in breeding plumage.
shorebird
Swamp Sparrow
A reddish-winged marsh sparrow with a gray face and breast, closely tied to wetland vegetation year-round.
songbird
Western Reef Heron
A coastal heron of Africa and Asia closely related to the Little Egret, occurring in both dark and white color forms.
wading bird
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
Western Crowned Pigeon
The Western Crowned Pigeon is a massive blue-grey pigeon topped with a rounded, solid-colored fan crest, one of three giant crowned pigeons of New Guinea.
dove pigeon
Swainson's Thrush
A brown forest thrush best identified by its bold, buffy eye-ring and evenly colored upperparts, lacking the contrasting rufous tail of the Hermit Thrush.
songbird
Western Capercaillie
The largest grouse species, with males showing a dark, heavy build, an iridescent green breast sheen, and an impressively broad fan-shaped tail during display.
gamebird
Southern Lapwing
A bold, noisy plover of South American open country, the Southern Lapwing shows iridescent bronze-green wing feathers, a black breast patch, and a distinctive thin head crest.
shorebird
Welcome Swallow
The Welcome Swallow is a small, agile aerial insectivore with glossy blue-black upperparts, a rufous face, and a deeply forked tail, common over open country and towns.
songbird
Stilt Sandpiper
A long-legged, long-billed sandpiper whose breeding-plumage feathers are boldly barred across the underparts, giving it a strikingly different look from the plain grays of its winter attire.
shorebird
Weka
The Weka is a robust, flightless New Zealand rail with streaked brown plumage, known for its bold, inquisitive, and often opportunistic behaviour around people.
wading bird
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
Wattled Crane
The largest crane in Africa, a grey wading bird with a black cap, striking white feathers hanging from the throat, and long fleshy wattles dangling below the face.
wading bird
Spotted Owl
An old-growth forest specialist of western North America, dark brown overall with distinctive rounded white spotting across its plumage, dependent on structurally complex mature forest.
owl
Wandering Tattler
A uniformly slate-gray shorebird of rocky Pacific coastlines, lacking any wing pattern and constantly bobbing as it forages among tide pools.
shorebird
Steller's Eider
Steller's Eider is the smallest of the eiders, a compact sea duck whose male shows a white head with a bold black eye patch, warm cinnamon underparts, and a glossy blue wing patch.
waterfowl
Violet-green Swallow
A small western swallow with iridescent green upperparts, violet-tinged rump and wings, and white extending unusually high onto the face and flanks.
songbird
Striped Owl
The Striped Owl is a boldly streaked, long-eared owl of open country across Latin America, easily recognized by its buffy plumage, dark streaking, and prominent ear tufts.
owl
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
A clean-looking desert hummingbird with brilliant white underparts and a violet-blue crown that catches the light against otherwise subdued upperparts.
hummingbird
Striolated Bunting
A small, finely streaked bunting of arid rocky country across North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
songbird
Vinaceous Rosefinch
A richly colored rosefinch whose male shows deep wine-pink to rosy-red plumage across the head and underparts, typical of high-elevation forest.
songbird
Streaked Spiderhunter
A large, heavily streaked relative of sunbirds found in Asian hill forests, notable for its long curved bill and bold dark streaking on yellowish underparts.
songbird
Vesper Sparrow
A streaky grassland sparrow best identified by white outer tail feathers and a small chestnut shoulder patch.
songbird
Straw-necked Ibis
A gregarious Australian ibis with an iridescent black back and odd straw-textured neck plumes, usually seen foraging in large nomadic flocks across open grassland.
wading bird