Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Superb Fruit Dove
A small, jewel-colored fruit dove; the male combines a purple crown, orange nape, grey chest band, and green back into a dazzling patchwork of color.
other
Rhinoceros Hornbill
A striking Southeast Asian rainforest hornbill named for its large, upward-curving red-and-yellow casque resembling a rhinoceros horn.
other
Marsh Tit
A small, plain brown-gray tit with a glossy black cap and neat black bib, closely resembling the Willow Tit but favoring drier, more mature woodland.
songbird
Iceland Gull
A pale, gentle-looking Arctic gull, smaller and more delicate than the similar Glaucous Gull, that winters along the North Atlantic coast and Great Lakes.
seabird
Indian Peafowl
The magnificent national bird of India, famous for the male's iridescent blue plumage and enormous fan of eye-spotted train feathers.
gamebird
Mew Gull
A small, gentle-faced gull of the Pacific Northwest, recently split from the Eurasian Common Gull and now officially known as the Short-billed Gull.
seabird
Great Black-backed Gull
The largest gull in the world, an imposing, dark-backed predator of the North Atlantic coast that preys on other birds as readily as it scavenges.
seabird
Great Kiskadee
A big, boldly patterned flycatcher named for its loud 'kis-ka-dee' call, often seen near water snatching insects, small fish, and fruit.
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
Muscovy Duck
A large, heavy-bodied waterfowl native to the American tropics, wild birds glossy black-green with white wing patches and bare red facial skin.
waterfowl
Marbled Murrelet
A small North Pacific seabird unique among auks for nesting solitarily high in the mossy branches of old-growth conifers, far from the coast.
seabird
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
A small, reddish, day-active owl of arid borderland scrub, distinguished from its close relative by a streaked (not spotted) crown and rusty tail.
owl
Galapagos Penguin
The smallest banded penguin and the only penguin species found north of the equator, confined entirely to the volcanic shores of the Galapagos Islands.
seabird
Bearded Reedling
A long-tailed, tawny reedbed specialist; males sport a striking grey head with a black "moustache" despite the misleading name Bearded Tit.
songbird
Couch's Kingbird
A south Texas specialty nearly indistinguishable from Tropical Kingbird in plumage, but recognized by its distinctive burry 'breeer' call.
songbird
Bewick's Wren
A slender, long-tailed wren with a bold white eyebrow, known for its varied song and once-widespread eastern range now largely lost.
songbird
Bank Swallow
The smallest North American swallow, brown above and white below with a crisp brown breast band, nesting colonially in burrows dug into sandy banks.
songbird
Crissal Thrasher
A secretive, unstreaked desert thrasher named for its chestnut undertail patch, usually detected by voice rather than sight.
songbird
Common Eider
A large, bulky sea duck of northern coasts, males boldly patterned black-and-white with a pale green nape and famous for their soft down.
waterfowl
Cape Weaver
The Cape Weaver is a bright yellow South African endemic songbird renowned for the male's intricately woven, hanging nest colonies.
songbird
Red-and-yellow Barbet
A vividly patterned East African barbet with a scarlet head, black-spotted yellow underparts, and a habit of nesting in termite mounds.
other
Brant
A small, dark sea goose with a stubby black bill and neck, closely tied to coastal eelgrass beds.
waterfowl
Yellow-crowned Amazon
A mostly green Amazon parrot of northern South America with a small patch of yellow feathers on the crown.
parrot
Common Swift
A sooty-brown, scythe-winged aerial specialist that spends nearly its entire life airborne, screaming past rooftops in fast, wheeling parties.
other