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.
Little Penguin
The world's smallest penguin, with slate-blue upperparts and white underparts, nesting in burrows along southern Australian and New Zealand coasts.
seabird
King Quail
One of the smallest quail species in the world, with males showing a smart slate-blue breast and a bold black-and-white barred throat.
gamebird
Common Yellowthroat
A small, skulking warbler best known for the male's bold black facial mask bordered in white, paired with a bright yellow throat.
songbird
Green Sandpiper
A dark, almost blackish sandpiper with a contrasting white rump and blackish underwing, often flushed abruptly from small secluded pools.
shorebird
Great Egret
A tall, all-white heron with a long yellow bill and black legs, famous for the delicate plumes it grows during the breeding season.
wading bird
Australasian Gannet
A large white seabird with black wingtips and a warm yellow head wash, known for spectacular high-speed plunge-dives into the ocean.
seabird
Squacco Heron
A small, unassuming heron that appears dull buff-brown at rest but reveals bright white wings the moment it takes flight.
wading bird
MacGillivray's Warbler
A western skulking warbler closely resembling the Mourning Warbler but distinguished by bold broken white crescents above and below the eye.
songbird
Little Egret
A dainty white heron of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, best known for its black legs and bright yellow feet.
wading bird
Lappet-faced Vulture
The largest vulture in Africa, with powerful build, mostly dark brown-black plumage, and a patch of contrasting white feathers on the thighs.
raptor
Red-legged Partridge
A plump, ground-dwelling gamebird whose boldly barred flank feathers in black, white, and chestnut are unmistakable at close range.
gamebird
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
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
Ross's Goose
The smallest white goose in North America, nearly identical in color to the Snow Goose but noticeably more compact, with a short neck and stubby bill.
waterfowl
Roseate Spoonbill
The only pink spoonbill in the world, easily identified by its rosy-pink body plumage, white neck, and spoon-shaped grey bill.
wading bird
Spotted Dove
A common Asian dove instantly recognized by the broad black collar on its hindneck, which is finely spotted with white like a string of pearls.
dove pigeon
Spot-winged Grosbeak
A large Himalayan finch identified by rows of neat white spots across otherwise black wings, paired with a black head and yellow body.
songbird
Northern Gannet
A large, brilliant white seabird with black wingtips and a warm buffy-yellow wash on the head, famous for its spectacular plunge-dives into the sea.
seabird
Montezuma Quail
A round, secretive quail of southwestern grasslands, with males showing one of the boldest black-and-white facial patterns of any North American gamebird.
gamebird
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
A small desert woodpecker whose black-and-white back forms a neat, closely spaced ladder pattern, common in cactus and mesquite scrub.
woodpecker
Koklass Pheasant
A grey-bodied Himalayan pheasant with a bold black-and-white head pattern, a chestnut breast patch, and a distinctive short, wedge-shaped tail.
gamebird
Indian Pond Heron
A small, drably streaked heron of South Asia that seems to vanish among vegetation at rest, then reveals bright white wings the instant it flies.
wading bird
Blue-footed Booby
A tropical seabird best known for its bright blue feet, with brown mottled upperparts, streaked head and neck, and a clean white belly.
seabird
Black-winged Stilt
A strikingly patterned wader whose feathers form a sharp black-and-white contrast, set off by improbably long pink-red legs.
shorebird