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.
Hooded Warbler
A vivid yellow-faced warbler whose adult males wear a complete black hood over the crown, nape, and throat, framing the bright yellow face like a cowl.
songbird
Vermilion Flycatcher
A small flycatcher in which males show a strikingly brilliant red crown and underparts against dusky brown wings, while females are far more subdued.
songbird
Amethyst Sunbird
A predominantly dark sunbird whose males show glittering amethyst-purple patches on the crown, throat, and shoulder that flash brightly against otherwise blackish plumage.
songbird
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
White-throated Sparrow
The White-throated Sparrow is easily identified by its crisp white throat patch and small yellow lore spot, occurring in two crown-striped color morphs.
songbird
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
European Green Woodpecker
The European Green Woodpecker is a large, ground-feeding woodpecker with olive-green body feathers, a bright yellow rump, and a red crown, feeding more on the ground than most of its relatives.
woodpecker
Nashville Warbler
A small warbler with a gray head, bold white eye-ring, and bright yellow underparts, plus a hidden chestnut crown patch usually visible only at close range.
songbird
Beautiful Fruit Dove
A rainbow-colored fruit dove of New Guinea's rainforests, combining a lilac-purple crown, green body, and a bright orange-yellow breast band into one striking pattern.
dove pigeon
Goldcrest
Europe's smallest bird, identifiable even from a single tiny feather by its vivid black-bordered crown stripe — orange in males, yellow in females — set against olive-green plumage.
songbird
Worm-eating Warbler
A plain buffy-olive warbler of steep, leaf-littered forest slopes, marked by bold black stripes across the crown and through the eye and a notably long, spike-like bill.
songbird
Whimbrel
A widespread curlew with a moderately long, downcurved bill and bold dark stripes on the crown, the Whimbrel shows grayish-brown feathers with fine barring adapted for camouflage on tundra and mudflats alike.
shorebird
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
Firecrest
The Firecrest is one of Europe's smallest songbirds, a mite of a bird whose soft, downy contour feathers are topped with a blazing orange-and-black crown stripe unlike any similarly sized species.
songbird
Black-necked Crane
A high-altitude specialist crane of the Tibetan Plateau, pale grey overall with a black head and neck and a bare red crown, adapted to some of the highest wetland habitats used by any crane species.
wading bird
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
Yellow-headed Caracara
A pale-headed, adaptable caracara commonly seen around cattle and open farmland across Central and South America, easily told by its creamy-yellow head and dark eye-stripe.
raptor
Wilson's Bird-of-paradise
Wilson's Bird-of-paradise is a small, intensely colorful species with a red back, yellow nape, an iridescent green breast shield, and a bare, patterned blue crown. It is restricted to a couple of small Indonesian islands where males display and clear small ground courts.
songbird