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.
Crested Caracara
A bold, long-legged raptor of southern South America's open grasslands, with a black cap, cream neck, and barred breast that make its feathers unmistakable among ground-foraging birds of prey.
raptor
American Robin
The American Robin is a familiar thrush whose warm orange breast feathers and plain gray-brown back feathers make it one of the easiest yard birds to identify from a single dropped feather.
songbird
Thick-billed Longspur
The Thick-billed Longspur is a shortgrass prairie songbird whose breeding males show a black cap and breast crescent set against gray-brown plumage, identified partly by its notably stout bill.
songbird
Egyptian Goose
A pale buff-brown African waterfowl, more closely related to shelducks than true geese, marked by a dark chestnut eye patch, a chestnut breast smudge, and a bold white wing patch bordered in iridescent green.
waterfowl
Painted Stork
A large South Asian stork with a white-and-black body, a bold black breast band, and delicate pink-tinged wing plumes, identified further by its long, decurved yellow bill and bare orange face.
wading bird
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
Harpy Eagle
The Harpy Eagle is a massive Neotropical forest eagle with a pale grey head, blackish breast band, boldly banded black-and-grey tail, and a distinctive double crest, all suited to powerful ambush hunting beneath the rainforest canopy.
raptor
Short-toed Snake Eagle
The Short-toed Snake Eagle is a pale-bellied Eurasian eagle with brown upperparts, a mottled brown breast, finely barred flight and tail feathers, and a large owl-like head adapted for scanning the ground for reptile prey.
raptor
Torrent Duck
A slender, streamlined duck specialized for life in swift Andean rivers, with males showing bold black-and-white stripes and females a warm rufous-orange breast. Its stiff, pointed tail helps it brace against rocks in fast current.
waterfowl
Superb Bird-of-paradise
The Superb Bird-of-paradise appears almost entirely black at rest, but the male can erect an oval nape cape and a shimmering blue-green breast shield into a striking, wide silhouette during courtship display. It is found in the montane forests of New Guinea.
songbird
Swainson's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk is a long-winged buteo of open grassland and prairie, typically showing a dark breast bib, paler belly, and notably dark flight feathers contrasting against paler underwing coverts, distinct from the broader-winged buteos it shares range with.
raptor
Speckled Chachalaca
A grayish-brown, chicken-like bird of South American forest edges, marked with fine pale speckling on the breast and a long tail broadly tipped in cinnamon. It is best known for its loud, raucous dawn calls that give the chachalaca its name.
gamebird
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
Greater Flamingo
The largest flamingo species, with pale pink body plumage that hides bold black flight feathers revealed only in flight.
wading bird
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
Black-headed Mountain Finch
A high-altitude finch of the Himalayas and Central Asian ranges, known for its blackish head and body offset by rosy-pink wing feathers.
songbird
Great White Pelican
A massive white pelican with a subtle pinkish tinge, black flight feathers, and a tufted nape crest, found across freshwater and coastal wetlands of Africa and Eurasia.
seabird
Cassin's Finch
A western North American mountain finch whose males show a bright rosy-red crown sharply contrasting with a brown-streaked back.
songbird
Mongolian Finch
A pale, sandy-toned finch of Central Asian deserts and steppe, showing a subtle rosy wash across the rump and wings.
songbird
Pine Grosbeak
A large, tame northern finch with a stout bill, rosy-pink males and grey-and-yellow females, and bold white wing bars visible in flight.
songbird
Summer Tanager
Unlike its scarlet cousin, the male Summer Tanager is rosy-red from head to tail with no contrasting black wings, a year-round trait unique among North American tanagers.
songbird
Lesser Adjutant
A large Asian wetland stork, smaller and less bald than its Greater Adjutant relative, with dark glossy upperparts, white underparts, and a more prominent role as a wetland wader than as a scavenger.
wading bird
Jambu Fruit Dove
A small Southeast Asian fruit dove with a face flushed rosy-crimson, set against green upperparts, clean white underparts, and a chestnut patch beneath the tail.
dove pigeon
California Gull
A medium-large gull of the American West, the California Gull shows medium gray back feathers and dark eyes, and is notable historically for its role in protecting early Utah crops from insect swarms.
seabird