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.
Splendid Fairywren
The Splendid Fairywren is a tiny songbird whose breeding males are almost entirely brilliant blue and violet, among the most vividly coloured birds in Australia.
songbird
Lanner Falcon
The Lanner Falcon is a widespread African and southern European falcon recognized by its rufous cap and blue-grey back, with lightly streaked pale underparts.
raptor
Eastern Rosella
The Eastern Rosella is a strikingly patterned Australian parrot with a red head and breast, a scalloped yellow-green back, a white cheek patch, and blue wings.
parrot
White Peafowl
A striking all-white color variant of the Indian Peafowl, retaining the species' iconic train shape and fanning display despite lacking the typical iridescent blue-green coloring.
gamebird
Superb Sunbird
A vividly patterned West and Central African sunbird whose males combine a violet throat, scarlet breast band, metallic blue-green head, and bright yellow belly.
songbird
Shoebill
An unmistakable, prehistoric-looking African swamp bird named for its massive, shoe-shaped bill, with an overall slate blue-grey plumage and a shaggy crest at the back of the head.
wading bird
Satyr Tragopan
A vivid crimson Himalayan pheasant whose male is covered in white-centered black-bordered spots and can inflate a strikingly patterned blue throat lappet during display.
gamebird
Yellow-headed Amazon
A large green amazon parrot of Mexico and Central America, named for its yellow-washed head, with a red shoulder patch and blue in the wing visible in flight.
parrot
Sparkling Violetear
A large, vocal Andean hummingbird whose extensive violet-blue patches on the ear coverts and chest are noticeably bolder than those of related violetear species.
hummingbird
Velvet-purple Coronet
A richly colored cloud-forest hummingbird with velvety blackish-purple plumage, a glittering violet-blue crown, and bright white patches visible on the underwing in flight.
hummingbird
Variable Sunbird
A small, widespread African sunbird whose plumage pattern varies geographically, generally showing an iridescent green or blue-green throat and yellow underparts in males.
songbird
Palestine Sunbird
A small Middle Eastern sunbird whose males appear almost entirely glossy dark blue-black, with hidden orange tufts flashed during display.
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
Yellow-rumped Cacique
A vocal, colonial songbird of South American lowland forests, marked by glossy black plumage set off by a bright yellow rump and wing patch, and pale, ice-blue eyes.
songbird
Temminck's Tragopan
A vividly colored Asian pheasant with rich orange-red plumage dotted in pearly white spots, best known for the male's inflatable blue throat lappet used in courtship display.
gamebird
Silver Pheasant
A striking forest pheasant of Southeast Asia, with males showing crisp white upperparts finely marked with black lines contrasting against glossy blue-black underparts.
gamebird
Shiny Cowbird
A slender, glossy blackbird relative widespread across South America and the Caribbean, notable for its uniform purplish-blue sheen and habit of parasitizing other birds' nests.
songbird
Tree Swallow
A cavity-nesting swallow whose upperpart feathers shine in iridescent blue-green while the underparts remain pure white, giving a sharply two-toned appearance.
songbird
Mallard
The world's most familiar duck, identifiable from almost any single wing feather by its glossy blue speculum bordered in white, shared by both sexes.
waterfowl
Lazuli Bunting
A small western North American bunting, the male Lazuli Bunting pairs a turquoise-blue head and back with a warm orange breast band and clean white belly.
songbird
Indian Peacock-Pheasant
A forest-floor gamebird of South and Southeast Asia whose grayish-brown plumage is studded with dozens of shimmering blue-green eyespots across the wings and long tail.
gamebird
White-breasted Nuthatch
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a tree-climbing songbird whose clean blue-gray back and pure white face and breast feathers are easy to separate from most other backyard species.
songbird
Tui
The Tui is a New Zealand honeyeater whose plumage looks black at a distance but shimmers with iridescent green, blue, and bronze up close, set off by two curled white throat tufts.
songbird
King Eider
The King Eider is a large arctic sea duck whose male combines a colorful blue-gray and pale green head with a black body and white breast, topped by an orange bill shield.
waterfowl