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.
Semipalmated Sandpiper
A small, plain-plumaged sandpiper with a short, straight, stubby bill and black legs, among the most abundant shorebirds of eastern North America.
shorebird
Rock Partridge
A mountain partridge of the Alps and Balkans, near-identical in plumage to the Chukar, with a black gorget stripe and bold chestnut-barred flanks.
gamebird
See-see Partridge
A pale, sand-toned partridge of dry mountain slopes, told from its relatives by a soft grey head and chestnut-striped face rather than bold black markings.
gamebird
Roseate Tern
A pale, elegant tern with unusually long tail streamers and a delicate pink blush to the breeding-season underparts, generally scarcer and more restricted to select coastal colonies than its close relatives.
seabird
Semipalmated Plover
A small, compact North American plover with a single black breast band and orange-based bill, closely resembling the Old World Common Ringed Plover.
shorebird
Rose-ringed Parakeet
A slender, bright green parakeet with a long pointed tail, best known for the males' narrow black-and-rose neck ring, and now familiar as a naturalized bird in cities well beyond its native range.
parrot
Secretarybird
A tall, long-legged raptor that hunts on foot across the African savanna, with pale gray body feathers, black flight and thigh feathers, and long black crest plumes at the back of the head.
raptor
Ruff
A shorebird famous for its extraordinary breeding-season variability, males growing elaborate, individually distinct neck ruffs and head tufts in colors ranging from black to chestnut to pure white.
shorebird
Scott's Oriole
A bold desert oriole with adult males showing sharply contrasting lemon-yellow and black plumage, closely tied to yucca and agave habitats in the arid Southwest.
songbird
Ruddy Shelduck
A warm orange-cinnamon duck with a paler, buffy head, solid black flight feathers, and a bright white patch on the upperwing bordered by a glossy green speculum.
waterfowl
Scarlet Finch
One of the most vividly colored Himalayan finches, the male Scarlet Finch is nearly all brilliant red with contrasting black wings and tail.
songbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
A small, richly colored hummingbird whose male combines a ruby-red crown with a glowing golden-orange throat over a warm chestnut body.
hummingbird
Scarlet-headed Blackbird
A striking marsh-dwelling blackbird with a vivid scarlet head, neck, and breast set against an otherwise entirely black body, found in wetlands of central South America.
songbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
The only breeding hummingbird across most of eastern North America, males carry a brilliant iridescent red throat patch that can flash black in poor light, set against emerald-green upperparts.
hummingbird
Scarlet-chested Parrot
A tiny, jewel-toned Australian grass parrot named for the male's bright scarlet chest patch.
parrot
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
Scarlet-chested Sunbird
A dark African sunbird whose males show a striking scarlet breast patch bordered above by an iridescent green throat and crown, set against otherwise blackish-brown plumage.
songbird
Rough-legged Hawk
The Rough-legged Hawk is an Arctic-breeding buteo with a pale tail base and dark terminal band, a dark belly patch, and dark carpal patches on the underwing, plus legs feathered fully to the toes for insulation.
raptor
Scaly-naped Pigeon
A dark Caribbean forest pigeon whose neck and nape feathers show a striking scaled, iridescent bronze-purple pattern.
dove pigeon
Red Siskin
A small, brilliantly red South American finch with a black hood and wings, now rare in the wild and notable for its striking male plumage.
songbird
Scaled Quail
A pale, scaly-plumaged quail of arid grassland in the southwestern United States and Mexico, easily recognized by its overall bluish-gray tone and a fluffy white crest sometimes called a cottontop.
gamebird
Ring Ouzel
A blackbird relative of upland Europe, told from the Eurasian Blackbird by its bold white crescent across the breast and pale-scaled wing feathers.
songbird
Scaled Dove
A small South American dove whose breast and neck feathers carry dark, crescent-shaped edges that overlap like fish scales.
dove pigeon
Red-tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed Hawk is a widespread North American buteo best known for its brick-red adult tail, pale underparts with a dark belly band, and broad, rounded wings often seen soaring over open country and roadsides.
raptor
Sand Martin
The Sand Martin is the smallest European swallow-relative, with plain sandy-brown upperpart feathers, white underparts, and a distinctive brown breast band.
songbird
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
A large Australian cockatoo, the male Red-tailed Black Cockatoo has glossy black plumage with bold red tail panels, while females show duller, yellow-spotted plumage and an orange-yellow tail pattern.
parrot
Sanderling
The palest of the common small sandpipers, famous for chasing retreating waves on open sandy beaches in tight, fast-moving flocks.
shorebird
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
Saltmarsh Sparrow
A crisply patterned salt marsh sparrow with a sharply defined orange face and bold black streaking on a white belly.
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
Saker Falcon
The Saker Falcon is a large, powerfully built falcon of the Eurasian steppes, prized historically in falconry, with pale sandy-brown plumage and long tapered wings suited to open-country pursuit.
raptor
Robust Woodpecker
A large, striking woodpecker of the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, marked by a prominent red crest and bold black-and-white pattern.
woodpecker
Sagebrush Sparrow
A pale gray-headed sparrow of Great Basin sagebrush country, with a white eye-ring and a dark central breast spot.
songbird
Roadside Hawk
A small, common, and conspicuous hawk of the Neotropics, often seen perched along roadsides, identified by its gray-brown chest contrasting with a rufous-barred belly and narrowly banded tail.
raptor
Sage Grouse
The largest North American grouse, tied closely to sagebrush habitat, with mottled grey-brown plumage, a black belly patch, and long, spiky pointed tail feathers fanned during elaborate lek displays.
gamebird
Rivoli's Hummingbird
One of the largest hummingbirds in the United States, appearing nearly black in dim light until its violet crown and emerald throat flash brilliantly in direct sun.
hummingbird
Saffron Finch
A sunny yellow finch of open South American country, with males showing an orange wash on the forecrown that females lack. Widely kept in aviculture, it has also become established outside its native range.
songbird
Red-winged Blackbird
A common marsh-dwelling blackbird whose males display bold red-and-yellow shoulder patches on glossy black plumage, while females are entirely different, streaked brown like a large sparrow.
songbird
Sabine's Gull
A strikingly patterned Arctic-breeding gull whose bold black, white, and gray tricolored wing pattern and forked tail make it one of the most distinctive gulls in flight.
seabird
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
Rusty Blackbird
The Rusty Blackbird is a boreal-breeding blackbird whose fresh fall plumage is heavily edged with rust, wearing away to glossy black by the breeding season, and whose populations have declined sharply in recent decades.
songbird
Red-throated Caracara
A loud, glossy black rainforest raptor of the Amazon and Central America, with a bare red throat and face and a striking white belly patch, often heard before it is seen.
raptor
Rustic Bunting
The Rustic Bunting is a boreal-forest bunting with breeding males showing a bold black-and-white head pattern set against rufous-streaked upperparts and a rufous breast band.
songbird
Red-vented Bulbul
A common South Asian songbird with a short crest, dark scaly-edged plumage, and a bright red patch under the tail.
songbird
Russet-crowned Motmot
Found in dry forest of western Mexico, the Russet-crowned Motmot shows a warm rufous-brown crown against green body plumage and a slow-swinging racket tail.
other
Ring-necked Duck
A medium diving duck with a peaked head shape and a glossy black back, best distinguished from scaup by a white vertical spur at the base of the wing rather than a grey back.
waterfowl
Russet-backed Oropendola
A large, colonial oropendola of South American forests, olive-brown overall with a warm russet back and bright yellow outer tail feathers, best known for its hanging woven nests and gurgling song.
songbird
Ring-necked Dove
One of the most familiar doves across sub-Saharan Africa, soft grayish-brown overall with a neat black half-collar and a gentle, rhythmic call.
dove pigeon