Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Magnolia Warbler
A boldly patterned warbler with a black-streaked yellow breast and a distinctive black-and-white tail band, best identified from below in flight.
songbird
Lawrence's Goldfinch
A gray-and-yellow goldfinch with a black face, restricted to California and Baja California and famously unpredictable in its movements.
songbird
Great Grey Shrike
A predatory grey-and-white songbird nicknamed the "butcher bird" for its habit of impaling prey on thorns to store for later.
songbird
Nashville Warbler
A small, active warbler with a gray head, bold white eyering, olive back, and bright yellow underparts, occurring in two disjunct eastern and western breeding populations.
songbird
Hermit Warbler
A plain-faced, bright yellow-headed warbler of Pacific mountain conifer forests, with a black throat and gray, unstreaked back, that hybridizes with the closely related Townsend's Warbler.
songbird
Lewin's Honeyeater
An olive-green rainforest honeyeater with a distinctive yellow crescent-shaped ear patch and a loud, rattling call.
songbird
Himalayan Bulbul
A crested bulbul of Himalayan foothill gardens and scrub, with a black head, a white cheek patch, and a bright yellow vent.
songbird
Indian Golden Oriole
A brilliant golden-yellow oriole with black wings and a black eye-stripe, closely related to the Eurasian Golden Oriole.
songbird
Lark Bunting
A gregarious prairie songbird whose breeding male turns entirely black with a bold white wing patch, Colorado's state bird.
songbird
Hoary Redpoll
A pale, frosty-looking arctic finch, closely resembling the Common Redpoll but adapted to even colder, higher-latitude habitat.
songbird
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
A glossy black forest drongo with a spiky forehead crest and two extraordinary wire-like tail streamers ending in rackets.
songbird
Hawfinch
Europe's largest finch, a stocky, shy woodland bird with an enormous, powerful bill built for cracking cherry stones.
songbird
Japanese White-eye
A tiny, olive-green songbird instantly recognizable by the bold white ring encircling each eye.
songbird
Hammond's Flycatcher
A small, grayish Empidonax flycatcher of mature western conifer forests, often foraging high in the canopy and best identified by voice.
songbird
Hooded Oriole
A slender, long-tailed oriole strongly associated with palm trees, with males showing bright orange-yellow plumage and a black face and bib.
songbird
Harris's Sparrow
North America's largest sparrow, with a black hood and bib framing a pink bill, breeding only in Canada and wintering on the Great Plains.
songbird
Jungle Babbler
A drab, noisy, sociable babbler almost always seen in chattering flocks of half a dozen or more, earning it the nickname 'Seven Sisters.'
songbird
Henslow's Sparrow
A secretive prairie sparrow with a large flat head, olive face, and one of the most unimpressive songs of any North American bird.
songbird
Le Conte's Thrasher
The palest of the thrashers, a shy, sandy-colored bird of the open Mojave and Sonoran Desert flats that prefers running to flying.
songbird
Lucy's Warbler
One of North America's smallest warblers, a pale gray desert species with a chestnut rump and crown patch, unusual among warblers for nesting in tree cavities.
songbird
Little Wattlebird
A streaky brown-grey honeyeater with a rufous wing patch, one of Australia's larger honeyeaters, despite lacking the fleshy face wattles of its close relatives.
songbird
Lincoln's Sparrow
A shy, finely streaked sparrow with a buffy breast band, often described as the best-dressed sparrow, that skulks low in dense cover.
songbird
Le Conte's Sparrow
A tiny, brightly colored, mouse-like sparrow of wet prairie and sedge marsh, more often glimpsed scurrying through grass than seen in the open.
songbird
Horned Lark
A ground-loving open-country songbird named for the tiny black feather tufts, or "horns," on its head.
songbird
McCown's Longspur
A thick-billed prairie longspur historically named for a 19th-century army officer; in 2020 the American Ornithological Society officially renamed the species Thick-billed Longspur.
songbird
Magpie-lark
A common black-and-white Australian bird, smaller than a magpie, known for its distinctive 'pee-wee' call and mud-bowl nest.
songbird
Montezuma Oropendola
A large Central American icterid with a chestnut body, black head, orange-tipped bill, and bare blue-and-pink facial skin, known for colonial hanging nests and loud gurgling calls.
songbird
Marico Sunbird
A robust southern African sunbird with a broad maroon breast band and jet-black belly, common in acacia savanna and dry woodland.
songbird
Green Jay
A dazzlingly colored jay of south Texas brushlands with a green back, sky-blue head markings, and lemon-yellow outer tail feathers.
songbird
Mountain Bluebird
A slender thrush of open western landscapes, the male an unbroken sky blue overall without any orange or chestnut markings.
songbird
Indigo Bunting
A small finch-like songbird whose breeding male appears brilliant all-over blue, produced entirely by feather structure rather than blue pigment.
songbird
Hill Myna
A glossy black forest myna with vivid yellow head wattles, renowned as one of the most accomplished vocal mimics among wild birds.
songbird
Island Scrub-Jay
A large, deep-blue scrub-jay found only on Santa Cruz Island off the California coast, the most range-restricted bird in the continental United States.
songbird
Grey Fantail
A small, restless grey-brown bird known for constantly fanning and flicking its long, white-edged tail while chasing insects through the foliage.
songbird
Grey Butcherbird
A grey-backed relative of the Pied Butcherbird with a black mask and white underparts, known for its musical, flute-like calls.
songbird
Meadow Bunting
A warm chestnut-backed bunting with a bold black-and-white striped face and a rufous wash across the breast.
songbird
Grey Shrikethrush
A plain grey-brown songbird with a rich, melodious song that belies its understated plumage.
songbird
Great Bowerbird
The largest bowerbird species, plain grey-brown overall with a usually concealed lilac-pink nape crest, famed for building and decorating the largest avenue bowers of any bird.
songbird
Little Bunting
A diminutive, chestnut-faced bunting of the far northern taiga, a scarce but regular vagrant to western Europe outside its core Siberian and Asian range.
songbird
Long-tailed Widowbird
A grassland songbird whose breeding male grows an extravagant tail up to half a metre long, displayed in slow, labored flight over his territory.
songbird
Long-tailed Shrike
A grey, black, and rufous predatory songbird with a black mask, long tail, and a habit of impaling prey on thorns.
songbird
Eurasian Bullfinch
A stocky, shy European finch; the male shows a vivid rosy-pink breast, black cap, and gray back set off by a bright white rump.
songbird
Green-tailed Towhee
A shy, olive-green towhee with a rufous cap and white throat, the smallest and most colorful of the towhees.
songbird
Hooded Warbler
A vivid yellow-faced warbler of eastern forest understory whose males wear a bold black hood, and which flashes white outer tail feathers as it flicks its tail while foraging.
songbird
Eurasian Skylark
A streaky brown ground bird famous for its prolonged, high-flying song delivered while hovering far overhead.
songbird
Lesser Whitethroat
A neat, grey-toned warbler distinguished from its cousin the Common Whitethroat by a darker face mask and a distinctive, unmusical rattling song.
songbird
Garden Warbler
A deliberately plain, featureless warbler whose lack of markings is itself the best clue to its identity, best appreciated for its rich, sustained song.
songbird
Golden Tanager
A glowing golden-yellow Andean tanager patterned with black markings on the face, back, and wings.
songbird