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.
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
A large, dark cockatoo of southeastern Australia, the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo shows blackish-brown plumage broken by bright yellow patches on the tail and cheek.
parrot
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
Swainson's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk is a long-winged buteo of open grassland and prairie, typically showing a dark breast bib, paler belly, and notably dark flight feathers contrasting against paler underwing coverts, distinct from the broader-winged buteos it shares range with.
raptor
Ornate Hawk-Eagle
A powerful Neotropical forest raptor with a bold black crest, rufous cheeks and neck, and crisp black-and-white barring across the underparts, built for hunting within the forest canopy.
raptor
Brown Hawk-Owl
The Brown Hawk-Owl is a widespread Asian owl with a hawk-like, tuftless head, dark brown upperparts, and rufous-streaked white underparts.
owl
Black-collared Hawk
A striking rufous-orange wetland hawk of the Neotropics, immediately recognizable by its pale creamy head and the narrow black band crossing its upper chest.
raptor
African Harrier-Hawk
A distinctive gray African raptor known for its bare, color-changing facial skin and unusually flexible double-jointed legs, used to probe tree holes and nests for 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
Redwing
The smallest widespread European thrush, easily told from its relatives by streaked (rather than spotted) underparts and bright reddish-orange flank and underwing feathers.
songbird
Redhead
A medium-large diving duck with a rounded reddish-chestnut head, distinguished from the similar Canvasback by its rounder head shape and darker grey body.
waterfowl
Reddish Egret
A distinctive coastal heron known for its shaggy, reddish head and neck plumage and its animated, dancing foraging behavior.
wading bird
Hoary Redpoll
A pale, frosty-looking northern finch closely related to the Common Redpoll, breeding at even higher latitudes across the Arctic.
songbird
American Kestrel
The smallest and most colorful falcon in North America, a common sight perched on roadside wires, told by its rufous back and tail and, in males, contrasting blue-gray wings.
raptor
Black Redstart
The Black Redstart is a small songbird easily identified by its constantly quivering, bright rufous-orange tail set against sooty gray or brown body plumage, often seen on rocky ledges and buildings.
songbird
Common Redstart
The Common Redstart is a small songbird named for its bright rufous-red tail feathers, which it constantly quivers, contrasting with a slate-grey back and black face in breeding males.
songbird
Common Redpoll
A small, hardy northern finch with a red cap and black chin, known for irruptive winter movements into temperate regions at feeders.
songbird
Lesser Redpoll
A tiny, heavily streaked brown finch with a small red forehead patch and black chin, males showing a pink wash across the breast, closely tied to birch, alder, and willow woodland.
songbird
Vermilion Cardinal
A cardinal of the dry Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela, with males cloaked almost entirely in brilliant red plumage and a prominent crest.
songbird
Scarlet Ibis
A brilliantly colored South American and Caribbean ibis, entirely vivid scarlet-red apart from black wingtips, closely related to the American White Ibis but far more vividly pigmented.
wading bird
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
Common Redshank
A vocal, alert wader with bright orange-red legs and a bold white trailing edge to the wing that flashes conspicuously in flight.
shorebird
Elegant Trogon
A striking trogon of southwestern borderland canyons, the Elegant Trogon shows metallic green upperparts, a vivid red belly, and a coppery tail with a bold black-and-white barred underside.
other
Ural Owl
A large, pale grey-brown owl of Eurasian forests, known for its notably long tail and streaked (rather than barred) plumage, and for its fierce defense of nests.
owl
American Redstart
An active wood-warbler that flashes bright orange or yellow patches on its wings and tail while fanning them to startle insects into flight.
songbird