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.
Great Blue Heron
The largest heron in North America, a slow-stalking hunter of shallow water with a slate-blue body and a dagger-like yellow bill.
wading bird
Blue Crane
South Africa's national bird, a pale blue-grey crane with unusually long, trailing wing-tip feathers that can nearly brush the ground when the bird is standing.
wading bird
Little Blue Heron
A heron with a striking life-history twist: pure white as a juvenile, then molting into a deep slate-purple plumage as an adult.
wading bird
Blue Bunting
A deep-blue forest bunting of Mexico and Central America, males show brighter blue highlights on the crown, cheek, and rump against an overall dark blue body.
songbird
Blue Jay
The Blue Jay is a large, vocal corvid whose bold blue, black-barred, white-tipped wing and tail feathers are among the most instantly recognizable of any North American songbird.
corvid
Blue Grosbeak
A stocky North American bunting relative, the Blue Grosbeak shows deep blue plumage and chestnut wing bars in males, while females wear a warm, understated brown.
songbird
Great Sapphirewing
One of the largest hummingbirds, the Great Sapphirewing shows deep green body plumage set off by brilliant sapphire-blue wing feathers visible in flight.
hummingbird
Great Tit
A boldly patterned tit with a glossy black head and white cheeks, bright yellow underparts split by a black central stripe, and blue-grey wings with a white bar, among the most recognizable garden songbirds.
songbird
Demoiselle Crane
The smallest of the world's cranes, a blue-grey bird with a black head and breast set off by long, drooping white ear-tuft plumes trailing behind the eyes.
wading bird
Eurasian Blue Tit
A small, brightly colored garden tit with a blue crown and wings, yellow underparts, and white cheeks bordered by a thin black eye-line, among the most colorful common feathers in European gardens.
songbird
Blue-winged Teal
A small, long-distance migrant dabbling duck with a pale blue wing patch shared by both sexes, and males showing a bold white facial crescent on a slate-grey head.
waterfowl
Blue-winged Parrotlet
The Blue-winged Parrotlet is a tiny, widespread South American parrot in which males show a notable patch of blue across the wing coverts.
parrot
Blue-throated Macaw
A large blue-and-yellow macaw with a distinctive patch of blue feathers on the throat, native to a small area of seasonally flooded savanna in Bolivia.
parrot
Blue-headed Vireo
The Blue-headed Vireo shows a contrasting blue-gray head, bold white spectacles, and white wing bars, making it one of the more readily identified vireos.
songbird
Blue-gray Tanager
One of the most familiar tanagers of Central and South America, the Blue-gray Tanager shows an overall soft blue-gray body accented by a brighter blue shoulder patch.
songbird
Blue Bird-of-paradise
The Blue Bird-of-paradise is known for the male's dramatic upside-down display, during which fanned iridescent blue flank plumes are shown off against otherwise black plumage. It lives in the montane forests of Papua New Guinea's central highlands.
songbird
Blue-and-yellow Macaw
A large, brilliantly two-toned macaw with deep blue upperparts and golden-yellow underparts, a green forehead patch, and bare white facial skin crossed by narrow lines of small feathers.
parrot
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
Taiwan Blue Magpie
Taiwan's national bird, a richly blue-bodied corvid with a black head, red bill, and an exceptionally long tail tipped in white.
corvid
Blue-winged Warbler
A bright yellow-headed warbler with blue-gray wings marked by two white wing bars and a thin black line through the eye, closely related to and often hybridizing with the Golden-winged Warbler.
songbird
Blue-winged Kookaburra
A northern relative of the Laughing Kookaburra, distinguished by more extensive blue in the wings and a harsher, less musical call.
other
Blue-necked Tanager
A brilliantly patterned South American tanager with a glossy blue head and neck set off by black upperparts and a warm chestnut belly patch.
songbird
Blue-headed Parrot
A stocky, short-tailed parrot with a striking sky-blue head contrasting against green body plumage.
parrot
Blue Ground Dove
A small, strikingly dimorphic dove-pale powder-blue in males, warm rufous-brown in females-both patterned with bold blackish spots across the wings.
dove pigeon