Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Band-tailed Pigeon
A large, plain gray forest pigeon of the western mountains, told by its yellow bill, white nape crescent, and pale terminal tail band, often gathering in flocks at acorn-rich oak groves.
other
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
Willow Ptarmigan
A tundra grouse and Alaska's state bird, turning pure white in winter and rich mottled rufous-brown in summer, with males retaining a chestnut head and neck longest into spring.
gamebird
Superb Starling
A common, strikingly colorful East African starling with a metallic blue-green back, chestnut belly, and a bold white breast band, familiar around safari camps and towns.
songbird
Ivory Gull
A striking, pure-white gull of the High Arctic pack ice, closely tied to sea ice and often found scavenging alongside polar bears at seal and whale carcasses.
seabird
Hooded Crane
A small, dark East Asian crane with a white head and neck resembling a hood, a red crown patch, and one of the most geographically concentrated wintering populations of any crane.
wading-bird
Kelp Gull
A widespread Southern Hemisphere gull with a black back and white head, ecologically similar to the Great Black-backed Gull of the north, and a rare vagrant to the Gulf Coast of North America.
seabird
Dalmatian Pelican
The largest of the world's pelican species, a greyish-white giant with shaggy curled nape feathers and a striking orange-red pouch, once seriously threatened but now slowly recovering.
seabird
Common Goldeneye
A hardy cavity-nesting diving duck named for its brilliant golden-yellow eye, the drake bearing a round white cheek spot on a glossy dark green head.
waterfowl
New Zealand Pigeon
A large, iridescent New Zealand forest pigeon with a metallic green-bronze head and back and a pure white breast, an important disperser of seeds from large native fruiting trees.
other
Osprey
A large, fish-eating hawk found near water nearly worldwide, easily known by its white underparts, dark eye-stripe, and dramatic feet-first dive for fish.
raptor
Stitchbird
A small, striking New Zealand honeyeater-like bird, the male boldly patterned in black, yellow, and white, now surviving only on predator-free islands and in reintroduced mainland sanctuaries.
songbird
Golden-winged Warbler
A gray-and-white warbler with a bold golden wing patch and yellow crown, once common in shrubby eastern habitat but now steeply declining and prone to hybridizing with Blue-winged Warbler.
songbird
Cattle Egret
A stocky, short-necked white egret closely associated with grazing livestock, whose remarkable natural range expansion made it one of the most successful bird colonizations in modern history.
wading-bird
Black Skimmer
A unique black-and-white coastal bird with an oversized red-and-black bill whose lower mandible is longer than the upper, used to skim fish from the water's surface in flight.
seabird
Eurasian Skylark
A streaky brown ground bird famous for its prolonged, high-flying song delivered while hovering far overhead.
songbird
Common Pheasant
A large, long-tailed gamebird; males are strikingly iridescent with a bare red face, while females are cryptically mottled brown.
gamebird
Eurasian Blackbird
A common European thrush; the male is glossy black with a bright orange-yellow bill and eye-ring, while the female is dusky brown.
songbird
Common Kestrel
A familiar, russet-backed falcon best known for its ability to hover motionless in mid-air while scanning the ground for prey.
raptor
Blue Rock Thrush
A stocky, solitary thrush of rocky habitats; the male is an overall slate-blue, while the female is grey-brown with fine scaly barring.
songbird
Nankeen Kestrel
Australia's smallest falcon, a rufous-backed kestrel famous for hovering motionless in the air while scanning for prey.
raptor
Red-winged Blackbird
A glossy black marsh bird whose males display bold red-and-yellow shoulder patches while perched and singing atop cattails.
songbird
Eastern Phoebe
A plain grayish-brown flycatcher that pumps its tail while perched and famously nests on bridges, eaves, and other man-made structures.
songbird
Shoebill
An enormous, prehistoric-looking wading bird of African swamps, famous for its massive shoe-shaped bill and statue-like patience while hunting.
wading-bird