Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Yellow-throated Warbler
A gray-backed warbler with a bright yellow throat and bold black-and-white face pattern, well adapted for creeping along bark and probing pine needle clusters and Spanish moss.
songbird
Wood Duck
Widely considered one of the most strikingly colorful ducks in North America, the male wears an iridescent green-and-purple crest, chestnut breast, and bold white facial markings.
waterfowl
Tomtit
A small, big-headed New Zealand forest bird, the male boldly black-and-white or black-and-yellow depending on region, often seen perched quietly before darting after insects.
songbird
Wonga Pigeon
A large, plump ground-dwelling pigeon with grey upperparts, a white face and underside marked by bold black V-shaped bars, usually seen walking quietly on the forest floor.
other
Whooping Crane
North America's tallest bird, a rare, snow-white crane with black wingtips that has become a flagship symbol of wildlife conservation after nearly going extinct.
wading-bird
Wreathed Hornbill
A large Asian hornbill with a low, corrugated casque and a bare throat pouch, colored yellow in males and blue in females, that plays a key role dispersing rainforest fruit seeds.
other
Satin Bowerbird
A songbird best known for the male's glossy, satiny blue-black plumage, violet eyes, and elaborate stick bower decorated almost exclusively with blue objects to attract a mate.
songbird
Northern Waterthrush
A boreal-breeding, thrush-like warbler of still-water wetlands and swamps, closely resembling Louisiana Waterthrush but favoring quieter water and showing a finely streaked throat.
songbird
Pukeko
A large, deep blue-purple swamphen with a bright red bill and frontal shield, a common and conspicuous sight striding through New Zealand wetlands and roadside paddocks.
wading-bird
Prairie Warbler
A bright yellow, tail-wagging warbler of shrubby old fields and scrub, with bold black facial markings and chestnut streaking on the back despite its misleading name.
songbird
Hoatzin
A bizarre, prehistoric-looking bird with a spiky crest, bare blue face, and a highly unusual digestive system that ferments leaves like a cow, giving it a distinctive odor.
other
Glaucous-winged Gull
A large, pale gull of the Pacific Northwest coast whose wingtips blend almost seamlessly with its gray mantle, and which frequently hybridizes with the darker Western Gull.
seabird
Dartford Warbler
A small, dark, long-tailed warbler of gorse-covered heathland, notable for its deep wine-red underparts and its unusual habit of staying put year-round rather than migrating.
songbird
Great Antshrike
A large, red-eyed antbird with strongly different plumage between the sexes: black-and-white males and rich rufous-brown females, both skulking in dense undergrowth.
songbird
Arctic Tern
A slender, graceful tern famous for undertaking the longest migration of any animal, traveling from Arctic breeding grounds to Antarctic waters and back each year.
seabird
Crested Oropendola
A large, glossy black icterid with a chestnut rump, yellow outer tail feathers, and pale blue eyes, famous for its colonial hanging nests and gurgling display song.
songbird
Altamira Oriole
The largest oriole in the United States, a bright orange bird found only in the Rio Grande Valley of extreme south Texas, famous for weaving the longest hanging nest of any North American bird.
songbird
Black Vulture
A stocky, all-black scavenger with a bare gray head and short, broad wings, recognized in flight by white patches near the wingtips and quick, choppy flapping.
raptor
Curl-crested Aracari
An unmistakable toucan relative with a crown of glossy, curled black feathers resembling patent-leather curls, plus a vividly patterned yellow-and-black bill.
other
Blacksmith Lapwing
The Blacksmith Lapwing is a striking black, white, and grey wetland plover named for its metallic "tink-tink" alarm call that resembles a blacksmith's hammer on an anvil.
shorebird
Western Rosella
The smallest of the rosellas, found only in southwestern Australia, with a red head and underparts, green back, and bright yellow cheek patches.
parrot
Tawny Eagle
A variably colored savanna eagle of Africa known for its highly opportunistic feeding, from scavenging carcasses to stealing prey from other birds.
raptor
Vinous-throated Parrotbill
A tiny, cinnamon-brown, long-tailed songbird with a stubby parrot-like bill, usually seen moving through scrub in noisy, gregarious flocks.
songbird
Western Sandpiper
A tiny, abundant sandpiper with a longer, slightly drooped bill than its similar peep relatives, forming vast flocks at key coastal stopover sites.
shorebird