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.
Mikado Pheasant
A striking Taiwanese endemic pheasant, with males cloaked in glossy blue-black plumage set off by a bold white wing bar and a long, narrowly white-barred tail.
gamebird
Common Wood Pigeon
Europe's largest common pigeon, easily identified by its soft blue-grey feathers, a bold white wing bar, and white neck patches absent in smaller relatives.
dove pigeon
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
Northern Mockingbird
A slim gray songbird famous for its vocal mimicry, identifiable by the bold white patches on its wings and the white outer edges of its long tail.
songbird
Elliot's Pheasant
A richly patterned Chinese forest pheasant, with males showing a chestnut body, blue-grey head, crisp white throat patch, and a long chestnut tail barred in black and white.
gamebird
Blue-headed Vireo
The Blue-headed Vireo shows a contrasting blue-gray head, bold white spectacles, and white wing bars, making it one of the more readily identified vireos.
songbird
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
Black Turnstone
A dark, sooty relative of the Ruddy Turnstone restricted to the Pacific coast of North America, showing a uniformly blackish body offset by a crisp white belly and bold white wing markings in flight.
shorebird
Crested Serpent Eagle
A forest raptor of South and Southeast Asia with bare yellow facial skin and a bushy nape crest, best identified by its single broad white tail band and white-spotted underparts.
raptor
Black Stork
A shy, forest-loving relative of the White Stork with glossy black plumage, a white belly, and a red bill and legs, favoring quiet rivers and wetlands far from people.
wading bird
Aztec Thrush
The Aztec Thrush is a boldly patterned montane thrush of Mexican cloud forest, marked by striking white wing patches and white-tipped tail feathers against dark brown-black body plumage.
songbird
Saddle-billed Stork
One of Africa's tallest and most colorful storks, with a glossy black-and-white body and a spectacular red, black, and yellow bill, though the feathers themselves are simply patterned in black and white.
wading bird
Eurasian Dotterel
A confiding alpine plover with a bold white eyebrow stripe and a chestnut breast band bordered in black and white, the Eurasian Dotterel shows reversed sex roles typical of some plovers.
shorebird
Ivory Gull
A pure white, high Arctic gull closely tied to pack ice, whose all-white adult plumage and short black legs make it unmistakable among northern seabirds.
seabird
Northern Wheatear
The Northern Wheatear is an open-country songbird best known for its bold white rump and black-and-white tail pattern, flashed conspicuously in flight above blue-grey or buff-brown body plumage.
songbird
House Martin
The House Martin is a small aerial songbird with glossy blue-black upperpart feathers, a bright white rump patch, and clean white underparts, built for a life spent almost entirely on the wing.
songbird
Common Goldeneye
The Common Goldeneye is a striking black-and-white diving duck named for its piercing golden-yellow eye, with males showing a round white spot on an otherwise glossy dark green head.
waterfowl
Red-crowned Crane
One of the rarest cranes in the world, a large white East Asian crane with a black neck, a bare red crown, and elongated black secondary feathers that form a false 'tail' over its true white tail.
wading bird
Northern Red-billed Hornbill
The Northern Red-billed Hornbill is a slender African savanna hornbill with spotted black-and-white upperparts, white underparts, and a long, slim red bill. It typically forages on open ground in small, active family groups.
other
Osprey
The Osprey is a fish-eating raptor with dark brown upperparts, a white head marked by a bold dark eye-stripe, white underparts, and long, angled wings showing a distinctive dark carpal patch and barred flight feathers.
raptor
Great Tit
A boldly patterned tit with a glossy black head and white cheeks, bright yellow underparts split by a black central stripe, and blue-grey wings with a white bar, among the most recognizable garden songbirds.
songbird
African Wood Owl
A medium-sized African forest owl without ear tufts, dark brown with white spotting above and boldly barred brown and white below, well known for its distinctive laughing duet call.
owl
Oriental Pied Hornbill
The Oriental Pied Hornbill is a medium-sized Asian hornbill with strongly contrasting black-and-white plumage, including a tail marked with white outer feathers. It is one of the more adaptable hornbills, tolerating forest edge and even wooded parkland.
other
Black-necked Stork
A tall, striking stork of India and Australia with a glossy iridescent black head and neck, a white body, and bold black-and-white wings, sometimes locally called the Jabiru despite being unrelated to the true American species.
wading bird