Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Sociable Weaver
A small Kalahari finch-weaver famous for building the largest communal stick nests of any bird, sometimes housing hundreds of pairs.
songbird
Screech Owl
A small, well-camouflaged, tufted owl of the Americas known for its distinctive quavering trills rather than an actual screech.
owl
Spinifex Pigeon
A small, richly cinnamon-colored ground pigeon of arid spinifex country, with a tall pointed crest and bold red-and-black facial markings.
other
Red Knot
A chunky, robust sandpiper renowned for one of the longest migrations of any bird, famously refueling on horseshoe crab eggs at Delaware Bay.
shorebird
Quaker Parrot
A grey-faced South American parakeet uniquely known for building large communal stick nests rather than nesting in tree cavities.
parrot
Powerful Owl
Australia's largest owl, a massive nocturnal predator of eastern forests that feeds almost exclusively on possums and gliders.
owl
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
A tiny, plain-faced olive-gray songbird with a bold white eye-ring and a surprisingly loud, rollicking song from a normally hidden red crown.
songbird
Spotted Nutcracker
A stocky, chocolate-brown corvid densely spotted with white, specialized for harvesting and caching conifer seeds in mountain forests.
songbird
Sandhill Crane
A tall grey North American crane with a bare red crown, best known for the spectacular mass migration gatherings along the Platte River.
wading-bird
Pine Siskin
A small, heavily streaked brown finch with sharp yellow wing and tail markings, notorious for unpredictable winter irruptions.
songbird
Sun Conure
A vividly orange-and-yellow Neotropical parakeet of northeastern South America, prized for its striking sunset-colored plumage.
parrot
Scaled Quail
A bluish-gray desert quail nicknamed "cottontop" for its bushy white crest, with feathers edged to create a distinctive scaly look.
gamebird
Rusty Blackbird
A boreal-breeding blackbird that turns rusty-edged in fall plumage, now one of the most steeply declining songbirds in North America.
songbird
Ocellated Antbird
The largest and most dominant of the Neotropical ant-following antbirds, patterned with scaly chestnut-and-black "ocelli" and bare blue facial skin.
songbird
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
Spotted Owl
A dark-eyed, chocolate-brown forest owl closely tied to old-growth woodland and famous as a flagship species for old-growth conservation debates.
owl
Olive Warbler
A pine-forest specialist with a tawny-orange head and black mask, now classified in its own unique family separate from true warblers.
songbird
Pied Wagtail
The black-backed British and Irish form of the White Wagtail, a familiar sight bobbing its long tail across car parks, farmyards, and riverside paths.
songbird
Spectacled Owl
A large, dark-headed owl named for the bold white "spectacles" that ring its eyes, with a strikingly different all-white juvenile plumage.
owl
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
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
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
Striated Heron
A small, stocky, dark greenish heron found on tropical shorelines worldwide, notable for occasionally using bait to lure fish.
wading-bird
Northern Shoveler
A dabbling duck instantly identified by its oversized, spoon-shaped bill, used to filter tiny invertebrates and seeds from shallow water.
waterfowl