Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Chuck-will's-widow
The largest nightjar in North America, best known for its far-carrying, repetitive nighttime call that gives the bird its name.
other
Purple Gallinule
A vividly colored marsh bird with iridescent purple-blue plumage, a pale blue frontal shield, and oversized bright yellow feet.
wading-bird
Bohemian Waxwing
A sleek, crested, silky-plumaged bird of the northern boreal forest that erupts south in unpredictable, nomadic winter flocks to feast on berries.
songbird
Henslow's Sparrow
A secretive prairie sparrow with a large flat head, olive face, and one of the most unimpressive songs of any North American bird.
songbird
Australian White Ibis
A large white ibis with a bare black head, once a rural wetland bird, now an iconic and highly adaptable scavenger in Australian cities.
wading-bird
Common Snipe
The Eurasian counterpart to Wilson's Snipe, a cryptically striped marsh bird with a very long bill, famed for the winnowing sound of its aerial display.
shorebird
Western Meadowlark
The state bird of six U.S. states, prized for its rich, bubbling, flute-like song delivered across open western grasslands.
songbird
Red-winged Blackbird
A glossy black marsh bird whose males display bold red-and-yellow shoulder patches while perched and singing atop cattails.
songbird
Green Kingfisher
The smallest kingfisher in the United States, a dark green, white-spotted bird of quiet streams along the southern borderlands.
other
Le Conte's Thrasher
The palest of the thrashers, a shy, sandy-colored bird of the open Mojave and Sonoran Desert flats that prefers running to flying.
songbird
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
Pine Warbler
A softly plumaged, olive-yellow warbler tightly tied to pine forests, notable among warblers for regularly eating seeds and visiting bird feeders.
songbird
Cooper's Hawk
A medium-sized woodland hawk that has become a common backyard predator at bird feeders, agile enough to chase prey through dense cover.
raptor
Cactus Wren
The largest North American wren, a bold, heavily spotted desert bird that nests within the spiny protection of cholla and cactus.
songbird
Eastern Whip-poor-will
A cryptically camouflaged eastern forest nightjar celebrated for its relentless, repeated nighttime song that gives the bird its name.
other
Cocoi Heron
South America's largest heron, a tall grey-and-white bird with a black cap that fills the same niche as the Grey Heron.
wading-bird
Jabiru
The largest flying bird of the Americas, a towering white stork with a bald black head and a striking red band at the base of the neck.
wading-bird
Rufous Hummingbird
A tiny, fiery-orange hummingbird famous for its feisty temperament and one of the longest migrations of any bird its size.
hummingbird
Purple Swamphen
A large, chicken-sized marsh bird cloaked in deep blue-purple plumage with a massive red bill and frontal shield.
wading-bird
Chimney Swift
A dark, cigar-shaped aerial bird that nests almost exclusively in chimneys across eastern North America, spending nearly its entire life on the wing.
other
Vaux's Swift
The western counterpart of the Chimney Swift, a tiny, cigar-shaped aerial bird that nests in hollow old-growth trees and large chimneys.
other
Water Rail
A slim Eurasian marsh bird with a long red bill, gray underparts, and barred flanks, more often heard than seen.
wading-bird
White-throated Swift
A fast, boldly black-and-white patterned swift of western cliffs and canyons, among the fastest fliers of any North American bird.
other
Hudsonian Godwit
A dark, elegant godwit famed for one of the longest nonstop migratory flights of any bird, connecting subarctic breeding grounds with wintering areas in southern South America.
shorebird