Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Gray Partridge
A round, orange-faced European partridge introduced to North American farm country, best known as the 'Hun' among upland game hunters, with a chestnut horseshoe mark on the male's belly.
gamebird
White-cheeked Starling
A sooty grey-brown starling with a bold white face patch and orange-yellow bill, common in farmland and cities across East Asia.
songbird
Southern Fiscal
A black-and-white shrike of southern Africa known for impaling prey on thorns and barbed wire as a food cache.
songbird
Brown-headed Nuthatch
A tiny brown-capped nuthatch of southeastern pine forests, notable as one of the few birds known to use tools.
songbird
Gray-headed Chickadee
A rare, remote-dwelling chickadee of far-northern taiga and tundra edge, known in Eurasia as the Siberian Tit.
songbird
Green Woodpecker
A large, ground-feeding woodpecker with vivid green plumage, a red crown, and a loud laughing call known as the "yaffle".
woodpecker
Painted Stork
A colorful South and Southeast Asian stork with a white and pink body, black-barred wings, and a curved orange-yellow bill.
wading-bird
Northern Lapwing
A crested, iridescent plover of European and Asian farmland, known for its tumbling display flights and wheezy "pee-wit" call.
shorebird
Common Tern
A widespread, medium-sized tern found across North America, Europe, and Asia, with a black cap, red-orange bill, and deeply forked tail typical of the group.
seabird
Southern Brown Kiwi
A shaggy, flightless, nocturnal New Zealand kiwi of the South Island and Stewart Island, known locally as tokoeka, that finds food entirely by smell.
other
Green Heron
A small, stocky, secretive heron with a dark greenish back, chestnut neck, and a reputation as one of the few birds known to use tools to catch fish.
wading-bird
Black-bellied Plover
A large, robust plover known as the Grey Plover in the Old World, striking in breeding plumage with a black face and belly and diagnostic black "wingpits" in flight.
shorebird
Hen Harrier
A slim, long-winged harrier of open moorland; the pale grey male is nicknamed the 'grey ghost', while the streaky brown female is known as a 'ringtail'.
raptor
White Wagtail
A slim, long-tailed black, white, and grey bird, constantly wagging its tail as it darts about open ground catching insects, equally at home in farmland or city centres.
songbird
Common Kingfisher
A vivid jewel-toned kingfisher with electric-blue upperparts and orange underparts, often glimpsed as a flash of color over slow-moving rivers and ponds.
other
African Grey Parrot
A medium-sized, ash-grey parrot with a striking bright red tail, a white facial patch, and a reputation as one of the most cognitively advanced birds known.
parrot
Andean Cock-of-the-rock
A vivid orange Andean bird with a distinctive disc-shaped crest, best known for the males' spectacular communal lek displays in the cloud forest.
other
Meadow Pipit
A streaky, unassuming ground bird of open moorland and grassland, often first noticed by its rising, parachuting song-flight or its thin call as it flushes underfoot.
songbird
Varied Thrush
A striking Pacific Northwest thrush resembling a robin dressed in slate-gray and burnt orange, known for its eerie, single-note whistled song.
songbird
Fiordland Penguin
A rare crested penguin, known as tawaki, that breeds uniquely among rainforest and rocky coastline of remote Fiordland, distinguished by its broad yellow eyebrow-stripe crest.
seabird
California Towhee
A plain, uniformly brown towhee with a rusty undertail, common in California backyards and known for its sharp metallic chip call.
songbird
Rainbow Lory
A vividly colored lorikeet of Indonesia, New Guinea, and the southwest Pacific, closely related to Australia's Rainbow Lorikeet and often known by the same common name.
parrot
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
Maned Duck
A common Australian duck, also called the Australian Wood Duck, known for its dark maned head and its habit of grazing on grass far from water.
waterfowl