Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Spruce Grouse
A dark, tame grouse of northern conifer forests, nicknamed the 'fool hen' for its remarkable tolerance of close approach by people.
gamebird
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
Evening Grosbeak
A bulky, big-billed finch with bold black, white, and gold plumage, once a common winter visitor to feeders but now sharply declining.
songbird
Golden-crowned Sparrow
A large sparrow with a bold black-and-yellow crown stripe, best known for its mournful three-note whistled song, 'oh-dear-me'.
songbird
Oak Titmouse
A plain gray-brown, crested songbird tightly tied to oak woodlands of California, notable for its lack of bold field marks.
songbird
Bachman's Sparrow
A secretive southeastern sparrow of open pine savanna, celebrated for one of the most beautiful songs of any North American sparrow.
songbird
Ovenbird
A plump, ground-walking warbler of mature forest interior, named for its domed, oven-shaped nest and famous for its loud 'teacher-teacher-teacher' song.
songbird
Winter Wren
A tiny, dark, almost tailless woodland wren of eastern North America known for its remarkably long, bubbling song.
songbird
Cactus Wren
The largest North American wren, a bold, heavily spotted desert bird that nests within the spiny protection of cholla and cactus.
songbird
Tree Swallow
A gleaming blue-green and white cavity-nesting swallow, one of the earliest swallows to arrive each spring and among the most cold-hardy.
songbird
Bank Swallow
The smallest North American swallow, brown above and white below with a crisp brown breast band, nesting colonially in burrows dug into sandy banks.
songbird
Pinyon Jay
A uniformly blue, crestless, highly social jay of pinyon-juniper woodlands that lives in large, noisy flocks year-round.
songbird
Crissal Thrasher
A secretive, unstreaked desert thrasher named for its chestnut undertail patch, usually detected by voice rather than sight.
songbird
Boreal Owl
A small, elusive owl of northern boreal forests with a squarish facial disc and a soft, high-pitched song heard mostly on cold winter nights.
owl
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
A small, reddish, day-active owl of arid borderland scrub, distinguished from its close relative by a streaked (not spotted) crown and rusty tail.
owl
Arizona Woodpecker
The only brown-backed woodpecker found in the United States, restricted to oak canyons of southeastern Arizona and New Mexico.
woodpecker
Orchard Oriole
The smallest North American oriole, with adult males showing a deep chestnut-and-black plumage rather than the bright orange of most other orioles.
songbird
Canada Goose
A large, familiar goose with a black head and neck, white chinstrap, and brown body, widespread across North America in a huge range of habitats.
waterfowl
Great Kiskadee
A big, boldly patterned flycatcher named for its loud 'kis-ka-dee' call, often seen near water snatching insects, small fish, and fruit.
songbird
Western Wood-Pewee
A drab, grayish-olive flycatcher of western woodlands best identified by its harsh, nasal 'peeer' call given from an exposed perch.
songbird
Sharp-tailed Grouse
A grassland grouse with a pointed tail and a spring courtship dance featuring purple neck sacs, rapid foot-stamping, and rattling tail feathers.
gamebird
Violet-green Swallow
A shimmering western swallow with an iridescent green back, violet rump, and white patches that nearly wrap around the face and flanks.
songbird
Couch's Kingbird
A south Texas specialty nearly indistinguishable from Tropical Kingbird in plumage, but recognized by its distinctive burry 'breeer' call.
songbird
Thick-billed Longspur
A stocky, heavy-billed shortgrass prairie longspur, the current official name (since 2020) for the species formerly called McCown's Longspur.
songbird