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.
Barn Swallow
The classic long-tailed swallow of barns and bridges, with glossy steel-blue upperparts, a rusty throat, and elongated outer tail feathers tipped with white spots.
songbird
Barn Owl
An elegant, heart-faced owl whose golden, finely speckled upperparts and ghostly pale underside make its feathers instantly distinctive among owls.
owl
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
Welcome Swallow
The Welcome Swallow is a small, agile aerial insectivore with glossy blue-black upperparts, a rufous face, and a deeply forked tail, common over open country and towns.
songbird
Cliff Swallow
A colonial swallow with a pale buffy rump, chestnut face and throat, and a pale forehead patch, best known for its gourd-shaped mud nests.
songbird
Cave Swallow
A close relative of Cliff Swallow with a paler, more orange-buff throat and forehead, typically found nesting in caves, culverts, and sinkholes.
songbird
Bank Swallow
A small, plain brown-and-white swallow told from other species by a clean brown breast band across otherwise white underparts.
songbird
American Barn Owl
A pale, heart-faced owl of open farmland and grassland, instantly recognizable by its golden and grey speckled upperparts, ghostly white underside, and exceptionally soft, silent-flight feathers.
owl
Swallow-tailed Kite
A graceful, boldly two-toned raptor with a deeply forked tail, whose sharp black-and-white feathers are unlike almost any other North American bird of prey.
raptor
Violet-green Swallow
A small western swallow with iridescent green upperparts, violet-tinged rump and wings, and white extending unusually high onto the face and flanks.
songbird
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
A plain brown swallow similar to Bank Swallow but lacking a sharp breast band, instead showing a soft, diffuse brownish wash across the throat.
songbird
Barnacle Goose
A small, sharply patterned goose with a bold black-and-white face and finely barred silver-gray flanks, breeding on Arctic cliffs and wintering on coastal grassland.
waterfowlSand 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
Barking Owl
An Australian hawk-owl named for its dog-like barking call, gray-brown above and heavily streaked below, favoring open woodland and riverine forest.
owl
Bare-eyed Cockatoo
A small white cockatoo with an inconspicuous crest and distinctive bare bluish-white skin encircling the eye.
parrot
Bare-legged Owl
A small Cuban endemic owl notable for its bare, unfeathered legs, an unusual trait among owls that otherwise mostly have feathered tarsi.
owl
Bar-tailed Godwit
A high-Arctic-breeding godwit renowned for extraordinary nonstop transoceanic migratory flights, showing a finely barred tail and rich brick-red breeding underparts quite different from the bold black tail of the related Black-tailed Godwit.
shorebird
Bar-shouldered Dove
An Australian dove distinguished by a bold bronze-and-black barred patch across the shoulder and nape, larger than its close relatives the Peaceful and Zebra Doves.
dove pigeon
Bar-headed Goose
A pale gray goose renowned for migrating over the Himalayas at extreme altitude, identified by a white head marked with two bold black bars across the crown and nape.
waterfowl
Eurasian Hobby
A swift, swallow-like falcon of Eurasia agile enough to catch dragonflies and swallows in midair, told by its long scythe-shaped wings, bold facial moustache, and rufous 'trousers.'
raptor
Australian Masked Owl
A large, variably colored barn-owl relative of Australian forests, ranging from pale to dark rufous, with a distinctive heart-shaped facial disc and fine spotting on its feathers.
owl
Sooty Owl
A dark, striking barn-owl relative of Australian and New Guinean rainforest, its sooty gray-black feathers finely speckled with silvery white, unlike any other owl in its range.
owl
African Grass Owl
A ground-nesting barn-owl relative of African montane grassland and marsh, dark chocolate-brown above with fine pale spotting, and long legs suited to hunting low over dense grass.
owl
Purple Martin
The largest North American swallow, with males showing an all-over glossy blue-black sheen and females a duller gray-brown, pale-bellied pattern.
songbird