Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Common Merganser
A large, sleek fish-eating duck with a slender serrated bill, males strikingly clean white-bodied with a glossy dark green head.
waterfowl
Eurasian Eagle-Owl
One of the largest owls in the world, a powerful, ear-tufted predator of cliffs and forests with a deep booming call.
owl
Western Screech-Owl
A small, tufted owl of the West, closely resembling its eastern counterpart but told apart by range and a distinctive accelerating call.
owl
Screech Owl
A small, well-camouflaged, tufted owl of the Americas known for its distinctive quavering trills rather than an actual screech.
owl
Horned Grebe
A small, striking grebe that in breeding plumage sports golden "horn" tufts of feathers behind bright red eyes.
waterfowl
Long-eared Owl
A slender, secretive woodland owl with long, close-set ear tufts and a strikingly thin, upright roosting posture.
owl
Whiskered Screech-Owl
A small, gray, ear-tufted owl of southwestern oak canyons, best distinguished from the similar Western Screech-Owl by its distinctive irregular-rhythm song.
owl
Eastern Screech-Owl
A tiny, tufted owl of eastern woodlands and suburbs, occurring in both gray and reddish-brown color forms, with a whinnying call rather than a screech.
owl
Horned Lark
A ground-loving open-country songbird named for the tiny black feather tufts, or "horns," on its head.
songbirdDemoiselle Crane
The smallest and most delicately built of the crane species, with blue-grey plumage, a black neck, and striking white ear-tuft plumes.
wading-bird
Ruff
A striking, highly dimorphic sandpiper whose males grow ornate, colorful neck ruffs and head tufts for elaborate communal courtship displays at a lek.
shorebird
Cinnamon Teal
A western dabbling duck whose drake is unmistakable with an all-over rich cinnamon-red body and a glowing red eye.
waterfowl
Tui
An iridescent, dark New Zealand honeyeater with a distinctive white throat tuft, famed for its extraordinarily varied, bell-like and mechanical song.
songbird
Green-winged Teal
North America's smallest dabbling duck, with the male showing a chestnut head, an iridescent green eye patch, and a vertical white shoulder stripe.
waterfowl
Canvasback
A large diving duck with a distinctive sloping forehead profile, the drake showing a rich chestnut head, black breast, and pale whitish body.
waterfowl
Jungle Myna
A grey-brown myna with a distinctive tuft of feathers on the forehead and pale blue-white eyes, common across South and Southeast Asian towns and farmland.
songbird
Red-breasted Merganser
A slim, shaggy double-crested sea duck with a thin serrated bill, the most marine of the mergansers.
waterfowl
Common Shelduck
A large, goose-like duck with bold white, black, and chestnut plumage and a bright red bill.
waterfowl
Blue-winged Teal
A small, long-distance migrant dabbling duck whose drake shows a bold white crescent before the eye and a powder-blue wing patch in flight.
waterfowl
Black Scoter
An all-black sea duck whose males show a bright orange-yellow knob at the base of the bill.
waterfowl
Surf Scoter
A black sea duck with a bold multicolored bill patch, males marked with white patches on the forehead and nape.
waterfowl
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
Common Teal
The smallest common dabbling duck of Eurasia, with breeding males showing a chestnut head and an iridescent green eye patch.
waterfowl
American Coot
A stocky slate-grey marsh bird with a chalky white bill, often mistaken for a duck though it is actually a rail.
wading-bird