Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Northern Raven
The largest of all songbirds, an immense, all-black corvid with a heavy bill, shaggy throat feathers and a wedge-shaped tail.
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
White-necked Puffbird
A large, big-headed, black-and-white puffbird that perches motionless on high open branches before sallying out for large prey.
other
Red-breasted Nuthatch
A tiny, tin-horn-voiced nuthatch of conifer forests, with rusty-orange underparts and a bold black eye-stripe bordered by white.
songbird
Northern Mockingbird
A slender gray songbird famous for endlessly mimicking the songs and calls of other birds, with bold white wing patches visible in flight.
songbird
Palm-nut Vulture
An unusual, mostly fruit-eating vulture with black-and-white plumage that lives near oil palms and waterways in West and Central Africa.
raptor
Ring-necked Duck
A compact diving duck best identified by the bold white ring on its bill rather than its subtle chestnut neck collar, along with a peaked head shape.
waterfowl
Northern Parula
A small, compact, blue-gray and yellow warbler with a distinctive bicolored bill, closely tied to hanging Spanish moss or Usnea lichen for nesting.
songbird
Northern Gannet
The largest seabird in the North Atlantic, gleaming white with black wingtips and a golden-buff wash on the head, famous for spectacular high-speed plunge dives after fish.
seabird
Nelson's Sparrow
A secretive marsh sparrow with an orange face triangle and soft, blurry streaking, breeding in both interior prairie marshes and coastal salt marsh.
songbird
Northern Hawk Owl
A long-tailed, falcon-shaped boreal owl that hunts by day from exposed treetop perches like a hawk.
owl
Lesser Nighthawk
A desert-dwelling nighthawk, smaller and buffier than the Common Nighthawk, with a low, soft trilling call and lower flight.
other
Northern Lapwing
A crested, iridescent plover of European and Asian farmland, known for its tumbling display flights and wheezy "pee-wit" call.
shorebird
Northern Pintail
An elegant, slender dabbling duck named for the male's long, needle-like tail, marked by a chocolate-brown head and a crisp white neck stripe.
waterfowl
Straw-necked Ibis
A striking black-and-white Australian ibis famous for forming huge nomadic flocks that follow outbreaks of grasshoppers and locusts.
wading-bird
New Zealand Robin
A tame, upright New Zealand forest bird, dark grey-black above with a pale belly, well known for boldly following walkers and foraging on the forest floor within easy view.
songbird
Northern Pygmy-Owl
A tiny, fierce diurnal owl of western mountain forests, notable for the false 'eyespots' on the back of its head.
owl
Black-necked Stilt
A striking black-and-white shorebird with impossibly long, thin pink legs, wading gracefully through shallow water.
shorebird
Northwestern Crow
A small, coastal crow of the Pacific Northwest closely resembling the American Crow and often found foraging along tidelines.
songbird
Northern Shoveler
A dabbling duck instantly identified by its oversized, spoon-shaped bill, used to filter tiny invertebrates and seeds from shallow water.
waterfowl
Eurasian Nuthatch
A compact, blue-grey woodland bird famous for its ability to climb head-first down tree trunks, and for wedging nuts into bark crevices to hammer them open.
songbird
Northern Wheatear
An upright, ground-loving songbird of open country, instantly recognizable in flight by its bold white rump and one of the longest migrations of any small songbird.
songbird
Northern Bald Ibis
A dramatic, bald-headed ibis with glossy black plumage and a shaggy neck ruff, once widespread but now one of the world's rarest birds outside a handful of strongholds.
wading-bird
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