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.
Pacific Screech-Owl
A small eared owl of Pacific lowland Central America, with greyish-brown streaked plumage and pale eyebrows meeting above the bill.
owl
Painted Francolin
A ground-dwelling gamebird of central and southern India with dark brown plumage densely marked with white spots and a chestnut nape patch.
gamebird
Madagascar Turtle Dove
A grey-brown dove of Madagascar and nearby islands, easily told by the neat black-and-white striped patch on the sides of its neck.
dove pigeon
Common Bulbul
A widespread African songbird with plain brown plumage, a darker cap, and a bright yellow vent, common in gardens, scrub, and savanna woodlands.
songbird
Bamboo Partridge
A grayish-brown East Asian partridge marked by a warm chestnut face and throat patch, favoring dense bamboo and scrub cover.
gamebird
Alpine Swift
One of the largest swifts in the world, with a white belly and throat separated by a brown breast band, capable of remaining airborne for months at a stretch.
other
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
Snow Pigeon
The Snow Pigeon is a high-altitude Himalayan pigeon with a bold white head, underparts, and rump contrasting against grey-brown wings and a dark breast band.
dove pigeon
Little Owl
A small, flat-headed owl whose boldly white-spotted brown feathers and habit of perching in daylight set it apart from Europe's other owls.
owl
Dunnock
An unassuming, sparrow-like songbird with soft grey head and breast feathers and a streaked brown back, easily overlooked but distinct once compared with true sparrows.
songbird
Bornean Peacock-pheasant
A little-known peacock-pheasant endemic to Borneo's lowland rainforest, patterned with rows of glossy blue-green eyespots across a rich chestnut-brown plumage.
gamebird
Blue Ground Dove
A small, strikingly dimorphic dove-pale powder-blue in males, warm rufous-brown in females-both patterned with bold blackish spots across the wings.
dove pigeon
Diamond Dove
One of the smallest doves in the world, a soft gray-brown Australian desert species with tiny white-spotted wings and a bright red ring around the eye.
dove pigeon
Common Rosefinch
A finch in which breeding males show a rosy-red head, breast, and rump, while females and immatures are plain streaked brown, sparrow-like birds.
songbird
Common Ringed Plover
The Eurasian counterpart to the Semipalmated Plover, a small brown-and-white plover with a single black breast band, breeding across the Arctic and temperate coasts of the Old World.
shorebird
House Wren
A plain grayish-brown wren common in yards and gardens across the Americas, identifiable by fine dark barring on its short, often-cocked tail feathers.
songbird
Griffon Vulture
A large Old World vulture with warm tawny-brown body feathers, contrasting dark flight feathers, and a distinctive white downy ruff at the base of the neck.
raptor
Greater White-fronted Goose
A brown, scale-patterned goose named for the band of white feathers at the base of its bill, with variable black barring across the belly that gives it the nickname "specklebelly."
waterfowl
Black Rosy-Finch
A dark, blackish-brown alpine finch of western North America's highest peaks, set off by rosy-pink wing feathering and a grey crown patch.
songbird
Balsas Screech-Owl
A little-known small owl endemic to Mexico's Balsas River basin, with subdued grey-brown, finely vermiculated plumage suited to dry tropical forest.
owl
Tambourine Dove
The Tambourine Dove is a small forest dove with a strikingly white face and underparts set against brown upperparts marked with dark wing spots.
dove pigeon
Swainson's Warbler
Swainson's Warbler is a plain, secretive brown warbler of southeastern thickets, best known for a rich, ringing song rather than bold plumage.
songbird
Song Sparrow
The Song Sparrow is a widespread, geographically variable sparrow whose brown-streaked feathers often converge into a distinctive central dark spot on the breast.
songbird
Red Wattlebird
The Red Wattlebird is Australia's largest mainland honeyeater, a grey-brown bird with a fleshy red wattle, yellow belly, and loud, unmusical calls.
songbird