Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
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
Black-headed Gull
An abundant Eurasian gull, despite its name actually sporting a chocolate-brown (not black) hood, and a rare but regular visitor to eastern North America.
seabird
Common Swift
A sooty-brown, scythe-winged aerial specialist that spends nearly its entire life airborne, screaming past rooftops in fast, wheeling parties.
other
Black Grouse
A dramatic grouse famous for its communal spring "lek" displays, males glossy blue-black with a lyre-shaped tail, females mottled brown.
gamebird
Sora
A secretive, plump little marsh rail with a short yellow bill, black face mask, and gray-brown streaked body.
wading-bird
Russet-backed Oropendola
A large, olive-brown to russet Amazonian icterid with a pale bill, forming noisy colonies of long hanging woven nests.
songbird
Rock Wren
A pale, grayish-brown wren of arid rocky landscapes, known for bobbing on boulders and building pebble-paved nest paths.
songbird
Pacific Black Duck
Australia's most widespread dabbling duck, mottled dark brown with a bold dark eye-stripe and cream-buff face.
waterfowl
Rhinoceros Auklet
A dusky-brown North Pacific auk named for the pale horn-like projection on its bill that develops in breeding season.
seabird
Song Sparrow
A heavily streaked brown sparrow with a central breast spot, known for its rich, varied song from low perches.
songbird
Laughing Dove
A small, slender pinkish-brown dove with a black-and-rufous speckled necklace patch and a soft, chuckling, laugh-like call.
other
Greater Rhea
South America's largest bird, a flightless grassland species with shaggy gray-brown plumage resembling a smaller relative of the Ostrich.
other
Harris's Hawk
A dark chocolate-brown desert hawk famous for hunting cooperatively in family groups, unlike almost any other raptor.
raptor
Eurasian Skylark
A streaky brown ground bird famous for its prolonged, high-flying song delivered while hovering far overhead.
songbird
Dunnock
An unassuming, streaky brown European songbird with a gray head and breast, often seen shuffling quietly beneath hedges and shrubs.
songbird
Giant Hummingbird
The largest hummingbird species in the world, a grayish-brown Andean bird nearly the size of a swallow with slow, distinctly visible wingbeats.
hummingbird
Common Bulbul
A plain brown, noisy, and highly social African songbird known for its cheerful bubbling call and bright yellow undertail.
songbird
Common Pheasant
A large, long-tailed gamebird; males are strikingly iridescent with a bare red face, while females are cryptically mottled brown.
gamebird
Bushtit
A tiny, plain gray-brown songbird that travels in noisy, tumbling flocks and builds an elaborate hanging sock-like nest.
songbird
Carolina Wren
A small, round, reddish-brown wren with a bold white eyebrow stripe and a surprisingly loud, ringing song for its size.
songbird
Philippine Eagle
The national bird of the Philippines, this critically endangered eagle sports a shaggy, lion-like crest of brown feathers and ranks among the largest and rarest eagles on Earth.
raptor
Spotted Flycatcher
An unassuming grey-brown songbird best known for its habit of darting from an exposed perch to snap up flying insects and returning to the same spot.
songbird
Grey Fantail
A small, restless grey-brown bird known for constantly fanning and flicking its long, white-edged tail while chasing insects through the foliage.
songbird
Common Myna
A brown-bodied, black-headed myna with bright yellow bill, legs, and bare eye patch, one of the world's most successful urban-adapted birds.
songbird