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.
Cocoi Heron
The South American counterpart to the Great Blue Heron, with a bold black cap and crisp white neck.
wading bird
Pied Crow
A striking black crow of sub-Saharan Africa, instantly recognizable by its bold white breast and neck collar.
corvid
Chihuahuan Raven
A desert raven of the American Southwest, smaller than the Common Raven, with hidden white feather bases at the neck.
corvid
Metallic Pigeon
The Metallic Pigeon is a dark island pigeon named for the glossy green-and-purple iridescent sheen across its neck feathers, often paired with a contrasting white throat.
dove pigeon
Bulwer's Pheasant
A Bornean forest pheasant with glossy blue-black plumage, an extraordinary curved white tail, and bright red facial wattles that expand dramatically during display.
gamebird
Muscovy Duck
A large, heavily built duck; wild birds are glossy black-green with white wing patches, while the widely domesticated and feral forms show highly variable pied black-and-white plumage.
waterfowl
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
Black Francolin
A boldly patterned gamebird with males showing black plumage dotted with white spots and a chestnut neck collar, while females are cryptically mottled brown.
gamebird
European Pied Flycatcher
A small Old World flycatcher in which breeding males show bold black-and-white plumage, while females and nonbreeding males are softer brownish-gray.
songbird
Paradise Shelduck
A large New Zealand duck with striking sex-based color difference, males dark and glossy while females show a bright white head and chestnut body.
waterfowl
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
Slate-throated Redstart
The Slate-throated Redstart is a highland forest warbler known for its slate-gray plumage, reddish belly, and habit of fanning white-edged tail feathers while foraging.
songbird
Willie Wagtail
A bold black-and-white fantail relative common across Australia, the Willie Wagtail is known for constantly wagging its long tail from side to side while perched or foraging.
songbird
Garganey
A small, strongly migratory Eurasian dabbling duck; breeding males show a bold white eyebrow stripe and long, drooping striped scapular feathers, while females resemble other small brown teal.
waterfowl
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
Snow Bunting
The Snow Bunting is a hardy Arctic songbird whose breeding males become strikingly white and black, while winter birds show warmer buff-brown tones as they flock over open fields and shorelines farther south.
songbird
Bare-eyed Cockatoo
A small white cockatoo with an inconspicuous crest and distinctive bare bluish-white skin encircling the eye.
parrot
Lark Sparrow
A boldly patterned sparrow with a striking chestnut-and-white harlequin face pattern and a rounded, white-cornered tail.
songbird
Coal Tit
The smallest common European tit, with a black head, white cheeks, and a distinctive white patch on the nape, paired with buff underparts and two white wingbars on grey-olive wings.
songbird
Silver Gull
A common and adaptable Australian gull with white plumage, pale grey wings, and black wingtips marked with white spots.
seabird
Royal Spoonbill
A white spoonbill of Australasia known for the long, trailing white crest plumes that breeding adults grow from the back of the head.
wading bird
Eastern Kingbird
A bold, dark-backed flycatcher with clean white underparts and a distinctive white terminal band across an otherwise black tail.
songbird
Great Cormorant
A large, glossy black cormorant with a white throat patch and, during the breeding season, a striking white patch on each flank.
seabird
Common Pheasant
A large, long-tailed game bird, with males displaying iridescent copper and gold plumage, a glossy green head, and bright red facial wattles, often set off by a white neck ring in some populations. Females are far more subdued, cloaked in cryptic mottled brown for camouflage while nesting.
gamebird