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.
Clay-colored Thrush
A plain, uniformly brown thrush of Middle America, closely related to the American Robin but lacking its bright orange breast, identified by its overall buffy-brown tone and pale bill.
songbird
House Finch
The House Finch is a common feeder finch whose male feathers show a diet-dependent red-to-orange wash on the head and breast over a brown-streaked body, while females are plain streaked brown.
songbird
Philippine Eagle
The Philippine Eagle is a huge, critically endangered forest eagle with brown upperparts, creamy-white underparts, and a shaggy crest of long brown-and-cream feathers that it raises when alert.
raptor
Western Marsh Harrier
The Western Marsh Harrier is the largest and darkest of the Eurasian harriers, males showing a distinctive tricolor pattern of grey, brown, and black on the wings and tail, while females and juveniles are largely dark chocolate-brown with a pale creamy crown.
raptor
House Sparrow
The House Sparrow is an introduced species whose males show a gray crown, chestnut nape and black throat bib over a streaked brown back, while females are plain buffy-brown.
songbird
Martial Eagle
The Martial Eagle is Africa's largest eagle, with dark grey-brown upperparts, a white underside heavily spotted with brown-black, and immense broad wings built for powerful soaring over savanna.
raptor
Twite
A streaky brown Eurasian finch of moorland and coastal grassland, similar to the Linnet but lacking red on the breast.
songbird
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
Common Chaffinch
A common European finch with males showing a blue-grey crown and warm pinkish-brown breast, and females a more subdued olive-brown, both sharing bold double white wing bars and a greenish rump.
songbird
Seychelles Kestrel
The Seychelles Kestrel is one of the smallest kestrels in the world, endemic to the granite islands of the Seychelles, with dark rufous-brown, spotted plumage.
raptor
Pectoral Sandpiper
A medium-sized sandpiper with a sharply demarcated brown, streaked breast band ending abruptly against a clean white belly.
shorebird
Dark-breasted Rosefinch
An unusually plain rosefinch, lacking the streaking typical of the group, with a dusky rosy-brown body and only a subtle pink wash.
songbird
Crimson-winged Finch
A robust mountain finch whose brown, streaked body is set off by broad crimson-pink panels across the wings.
songbird
White-backed Vulture
A widespread African savanna vulture, mostly brown overall but showing a distinctive whitish patch on the lower back that is especially visible in flight.
raptor
Red-footed Booby
The smallest and most variably plumaged booby, occurring in white, brown, and intermediate color morphs, all sharing distinctive red feet.
seabird
Red-billed Hornbill
A small African hornbill with a long red bill, spotted grey-brown upperparts, and white underparts, common in savanna and open woodland.
other
Japanese Quail
A close relative of the Common Quail from East Asia, cloaked in the same streaky brown camouflage but with a warmer rufous wash to the breast.
gamebird
Grey Francolin
A ground-dwelling gamebird with finely barred grey-brown plumage, well camouflaged in dry scrub and farmland across South Asia.
gamebird
Least Sandpiper
The smallest sandpiper in the world, distinguished from other tiny peeps by its yellow-green legs and finely mottled brown upperparts.
shorebird
Common Quail
A tiny, secretive migratory quail of Old World farmland, cloaked in streaked brown plumage that renders it almost invisible in tall grass.
gamebird
Chimango Caracara
A common, uniformly brown caracara of southern South America's open country and cities, often seen scavenging in fields, parks, and roadsides.
raptor
Chilean Flicker
A ground-foraging flicker of Chile and Argentina, patterned in muted grays and browns to match the temperate woodland-steppe it inhabits.
woodpecker
Zenaida Dove
A warm cinnamon-brown Caribbean dove closely related to the Mourning Dove, told apart by its shorter, rounded tail edged in white.
dove pigeon
White-winged Dove
A brown-gray desert dove readily identified by a bold white stripe along the edge of the folded wing, visible both perched and in flight.
dove pigeon