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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.

Arizona Woodpecker

Arizona Woodpecker

A woodpecker of southwestern oak canyons notable for its plain brown back, unlike the black-and-white barred pattern of most related species.

woodpecker
American Three-toed Woodpecker

American Three-toed Woodpecker

The North American counterpart of the Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker, a boreal conifer specialist with a yellow-capped male and barred black-and-white flanks.

woodpecker
Shikra

Shikra

A small, agile hawk of Africa and Asia resembling a miniature goshawk, identified by blue-gray upperparts and finely rufous-barred underparts.

raptor
Grey Francolin

Grey Francolin

A ground-dwelling gamebird with finely barred grey-brown plumage, well camouflaged in dry scrub and farmland across South Asia.

gamebird
King Quail

King Quail

One of the smallest quail species in the world, with males showing a smart slate-blue breast and a bold black-and-white barred throat.

gamebird
Spot-breasted Woodpecker

Spot-breasted Woodpecker

A South American woodpecker with a yellow-green barred back and a breast marked by bold black spots, favoring open and semi-open wooded habitat.

woodpecker
Crimson-crested Woodpecker

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

A striking South American woodpecker whose entirely crimson head and crest stand out sharply against its black-and-white barred body.

woodpecker
Brown-fronted Woodpecker

Brown-fronted Woodpecker

A small Himalayan woodpecker with a brown forehead patch and finely barred black-and-white back, sharing similarities with related pied woodpeckers at lower elevations.

woodpecker
Spruce Grouse

Spruce Grouse

A boreal forest grouse with dark, densely barred plumage, a black throat patch in males, and a short tail typically tipped with rust-orange.

gamebird
Himalayan Woodpecker

Himalayan Woodpecker

A larger Himalayan pied woodpecker distinguished from lowland relatives by its barred, rather than solid black, upperparts and a red vent.

woodpecker
Gila Woodpecker

Gila Woodpecker

A common Sonoran Desert woodpecker with a plain gray-tan head and body set off by a boldly barred black-and-white back and wings.

woodpecker
Morepork

Morepork

New Zealand's small native owl, named for its call and known to Maori as ruru, with dark brown feathers mottled with pale buff spotting and streaked underparts.

owl
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

A small, widespread Asian woodpecker with a grey-brown crown and crisply barred back, closely resembling other pygmy woodpeckers across its broad range.

woodpecker
Lined Forest Falcon

Lined Forest Falcon

A small, shy Amazonian forest-falcon closely resembling the Barred Forest Falcon but with much finer, more closely-spaced barring on its underside feathers.

raptor
Gray Hawk

Gray Hawk

A slim, pale gray hawk of cottonwood-lined streams in the borderlands, notable for its finely barred plumage and slender, accipiter-like proportions among the buteos.

raptor
Barnacle Goose

Barnacle Goose

A small, sharply patterned goose with a bold black-and-white face and finely barred silver-gray flanks, breeding on Arctic cliffs and wintering on coastal grassland.

waterfowl
Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

A common eastern woodpecker with a finely barred, ladder-like back pattern unique among familiar woodpeckers, and a red cap or nape depending on sex.

woodpecker
Marbled Godwit

Marbled Godwit

The largest North American godwit, with an overall warm cinnamon-buff plumage finely barred with dark markings and a long, slightly upturned bicolored bill.

shorebird
Common Cuckoo

Common Cuckoo

A slim, hawk-mimicking bird whose barred underparts and pointed wings closely resemble a small sparrowhawk, an example of remarkable plumage convergence in nature.

other
Greater Kestrel

Greater Kestrel

The Greater Kestrel is a robust southern African kestrel, larger than the Common Kestrel, with a barred rufous back, pale underparts, and a distinctive pale eye.

raptor
Powerful Woodpecker

Powerful Woodpecker

A large woodpecker of Andean cloud forest, closely related to the Crimson-crested and Magellanic Woodpeckers but with distinctive buffy, barred underparts rather than clean black-and-white.

woodpecker
Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker

A large, brown-barred woodpecker best identified by the bright yellow or salmon-red shafts of its flight feathers, along with a black chest crescent and spotted underside.

woodpecker
Cheer Pheasant

Cheer Pheasant

A comparatively subdued, buff-and-grey Himalayan pheasant with a shaggy crest and a long, dark-barred tail, favoring open grassy hillsides rather than dense forest.

gamebird
Bewick's Wren

Bewick's Wren

A slim, long-tailed wren with a bold white eyebrow stripe, told from other wrens by its notably long tail edged in white and barred with black.

songbird