Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
African Harrier-Hawk
A grey African raptor famed for its unusually flexible, double-jointed legs, which let it reach deep into tree holes and weaver-bird nests to extract prey.
raptor
African Fish Eagle
A striking white-headed, chestnut-bodied eagle found near lakes and rivers across sub-Saharan Africa, celebrated for its unmistakable, far-carrying call.
raptor
African Paradise Flycatcher
An elegant sub-Saharan African songbird with a glossy blue-black crested head, chestnut plumage, and long trailing tail streamers in males.
songbird
Common Ostrich
The world's largest and heaviest living bird, a flightless African ratite known for its long bare legs, tiny head, and remarkable running speed.
otherCongo Peafowl
A secretive rainforest pheasant endemic to the Congo Basin, notable as the only peafowl species native to Africa and for lacking the elaborate train of its Asian relatives.
gamebird
Martial Eagle
Africa's largest and most powerful eagle, the Martial Eagle is a formidable savanna predator capable of taking prey as large as small antelope.
raptor
White-backed Vulture
A gregarious African savanna vulture, once the continent's most numerous vulture, now Critically Endangered due to poisoning.
raptor
Cape Gannet
A large white seabird with black flight feathers and a golden crown that breeds in dense colonies on islands off southern Africa.
seabird
Ostrich
The world's largest and heaviest living bird, a flightless African species built for speed on the open savanna.
other
Yellow-billed Kite
A common, adaptable African raptor with a bright yellow bill and forked tail, often seen soaring over towns and open country.
raptor
Common Bulbul
A plain brown, noisy, and highly social African songbird known for its cheerful bubbling call and bright yellow undertail.
songbird
Yellow-billed Stork
A striking African wading bird with mostly white and pale pink plumage, black flight feathers, and a long, curved yellow bill.
wading-bird
Sacred Ibis
A striking white ibis with a bare black head and neck, revered in ancient Egypt, now widespread across African wetlands and farmland.
wading-bird
Fork-tailed Drongo
A glossy black, red-eyed African songbird known for its deeply forked tail, aerial hunting, and habit of mimicking alarm calls to steal food.
songbird
Cape Cormorant
A glossy black cormorant of the southern African coastline that forms some of the largest seabird breeding colonies in the world.
seabird
Crowned Eagle
A powerful African forest eagle with short, rounded wings for maneuvering below the canopy, the Crowned Eagle is considered pound-for-pound one of the continent's most formidable raptors and a leading predator of monkeys.
raptor
Black Crowned-Crane
A striking West and Central African crane with a golden crown of bristle feathers, a black neck, and bold red and white facial patches.
wading-bird
Spur-winged Goose
The Spur-winged Goose is Africa's largest waterfowl species, named for the sharp spurs on its wings and its bare red facial skin.
waterfowl
Grey Crowned-Crane
A dazzling African crane with a spectacular crown of stiff golden feathers, a grey body, and vivid red and white cheek patches; the national bird of Uganda.
wading-bird
Giant Kingfisher
Africa's largest kingfisher, a shaggy-crested, black-and-white speckled bird that hunts fish and crabs from streamside perches.
other
Common Murre
A slender, penguin-like auk with a dark brown-black back and white underparts, breeding in dense, noisy cliff colonies.
seabird
Malachite Kingfisher
A tiny, jewel-like African kingfisher with a vivid blue-and-black barred crest and rufous underparts.
other
Baglafecht Weaver
A common East African highland weaver with a variable black-and-yellow head pattern that differs by region.
songbird
Cape Glossy Starling
A stocky southern African starling whose plumage shimmers with brilliant iridescent blue-green in the sun.
songbird