Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Hooded Vulture
A small, drab, bare-faced vulture of Africa that scavenges close to towns and villages and has suffered catastrophic population declines.
raptor
Killdeer
A widespread shorebird recognized by its double black breast bands and its dramatic 'broken-wing' display to lure predators from the nest.
shorebird
Green Jay
A dazzlingly colored jay of south Texas brushlands with a green back, sky-blue head markings, and lemon-yellow outer tail feathers.
songbird
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
A small desert woodpecker with a finely barred black-and-white 'ladder' back pattern, well adapted to arid scrub, mesquite, and cactus habitat.
woodpecker
Eastern Towhee
A striking sparrow relative with a black hood, rufous flanks, and white belly, known for its 'drink-your-tea' song and rustling leaf-litter foraging.
songbird
European Pied Flycatcher
A crisp black-and-white migratory flycatcher of oak woodland, the male boldly patterned and readily taking to nest boxes across much of Europe.
songbird
Gouldian Finch
A small Australian grassland finch renowned for its extraordinarily vivid rainbow plumage of purple, yellow, green, and a red or black head.
songbird
Fantail Pigeon
A distinctive domestic pigeon breed known for its greatly enlarged, upright, fan-shaped tail and characteristic strutting walk.
other
European Shag
A sleek, dark green-black diving seabird of European rocky coasts, sporting a jaunty forward-curling crest in the breeding season.
seabird
Frillback Pigeon
A fancy pigeon breed distinguished by curled, frill-like feathers on its wings and breast, developed through selective breeding from the Rock Dove.
other
Eastern Phoebe
A plain grayish-brown flycatcher that pumps its tail while perched and famously nests on bridges, eaves, and other man-made structures.
songbird
Gang-gang Cockatoo
A small grey cockatoo of southeastern Australia's mountain forests, with males sporting a striking scarlet, wispy-crested head.
parrot
Gray-cheeked Thrush
A cold gray-toned northern thrush that breeds in remote subarctic forest and passes through the US mainly as an inconspicuous migrant.
songbird
Cassin's Vireo
A western vireo with a subdued gray-green head, white spectacles, and pale yellow flanks, once lumped with Blue-headed and Plumbeous Vireo as the 'Solitary Vireo.'
songbird
Blue Dacnis
A small, brilliant turquoise-blue tanager relative with a black throat and back, whose olive-green female shows a contrasting blue head.
songbird
Common Pheasant
A large, long-tailed gamebird; males are strikingly iridescent with a bare red face, while females are cryptically mottled brown.
gamebird
Cedar Waxwing
A sleek, crested, silky-brown songbird with a yellow-tipped tail and waxy red wingtips that travels in nomadic flocks following fruit crops.
songbird
Canada Jay
The official current name for the Gray Jay, a fluffy, remarkably tame boreal-forest corvid famous for hoarding food and visiting campsites.
songbird
Black-tailed Godwit
A long-legged, long-billed godwit of European wet meadows, easily identified in flight by its bold white wing stripe and black tail band.
shorebird
Clark's Grebe
A large, pale grebe closely resembling the Western Grebe, distinguished by a brighter orange bill and white plumage encircling the eye.
waterfowl
Cory's Shearwater
A large, gull-like shearwater of the Atlantic Ocean, with brownish-grey upperparts, a yellowish bill, and a slow, languid flight low over the waves.
seabird
Crimson-backed Tanager
A striking black tanager with a fiery crimson back and lower underparts, common in gardens and edge habitats of northern South America.
songbird
Common Grackle
A large, iridescent blackbird with a long keel-shaped tail and pale yellow eyes, common across eastern and central North America.
songbird
Brambling
A striking orange, black, and white finch of the northern taiga that winters in flocks, often alongside chaffinches, feasting on beech mast.
songbird