Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Fiordland Penguin
A rare crested penguin, known as tawaki, that breeds uniquely among rainforest and rocky coastline of remote Fiordland, distinguished by its broad yellow eyebrow-stripe crest.
seabird
Golden-headed Quetzal
An Andean cloud-forest quetzal with iridescent green plumage, a golden-bronze sheen on the crown, and a crimson-red breast, but lacking the extremely long tail streamers of the Resplendent Quetzal.
other
Dalmatian Pelican
The largest of the world's pelican species, a greyish-white giant with shaggy curled nape feathers and a striking orange-red pouch, once seriously threatened but now slowly recovering.
seabird
Band-tailed Pigeon
A large, plain gray forest pigeon of the western mountains, told by its yellow bill, white nape crescent, and pale terminal tail band, often gathering in flocks at acorn-rich oak groves.
other
Tennessee Warbler
A plain, energetic warbler with a gray head, white eyebrow stripe, and olive back, named for a stray specimen collected in Tennessee though it neither breeds nor regularly winters there.
songbird
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
A slender, secretive woodland bird nicknamed the 'rain crow' for its habit of calling before summer storms, marked by a downcurved yellow lower bill and rufous flight feathers.
other
Red-necked Phalarope
A small, needle-billed shorebird that spins in tight circles on the water to stir up food, with brighter-plumaged females and a largely oceanic lifestyle outside the breeding season.
shorebird
Paradise Shelduck
A large, strikingly dimorphic New Zealand duck, the female with a bright white head and chestnut body and the male mostly black with a grey-flecked back, commonly seen grazing on farmland.
waterfowl
Short-toed Treecreeper
A close relative of the Eurasian Treecreeper, nearly identical in appearance but favouring broadleaf woodland at lower elevations and best identified by its distinct voice.
songbird
Helmeted Hornbill
A rare Southeast Asian rainforest hornbill famed for its unique solid ivory casque, extremely long tail streamers, and eerie cackling call, now critically endangered from poaching.
other
Golden Bowerbird
The smallest bowerbird species, restricted to Queensland's Wet Tropics uplands; the male is golden-yellow and olive-brown and builds the tallest maypole-style bower relative to its size of any bird.
songbird
Australasian Figbird
A stocky oriole relative with a patch of bare red or pink skin around the eye; males show a grey head and olive-green body, while females are streaky brown, and both gather in noisy flocks at fruiting fig trees.
songbird
Cerulean Warbler
A sky-blue, canopy-dwelling warbler of mature eastern forests, among the fastest-declining North American warblers due to habitat loss on both its breeding and wintering grounds.
songbird
Pelagic Cormorant
A slim, iridescent black-green cormorant of rugged North Pacific coastlines, showing a thin bill and small head crests in breeding plumage, nesting precariously on narrow sea cliff ledges.
seabird
Stitchbird
A small, striking New Zealand honeyeater-like bird, the male boldly patterned in black, yellow, and white, now surviving only on predator-free islands and in reintroduced mainland sanctuaries.
songbird
Carmine Bee-eater
A dazzling, migratory African bee-eater with vivid carmine-pink plumage, a turquoise crown and throat, and long tail streamers, often seen riding on the backs of large animals to catch flushed insects.
other
Crowned Eagle
A powerful African forest eagle with short, rounded wings for maneuvering below the canopy, the Crowned Eagle is considered pound-for-pound one of the continent's most formidable raptors and a leading predator of monkeys.
raptor
Tree Pipit
A streaky ground-feeding songbird closely resembling the Meadow Pipit, but distinguished by its habit of singing from treetops during a memorable rising and parachuting display flight.
songbird
Saddleback
A glossy black New Zealand forest bird with a bold chestnut "saddle" across its back and bright orange-red wattles, now surviving mainly on predator-free islands after near extinction on the mainland.
songbird
Chukar
A bold, boldly barred Eurasian partridge introduced to the arid, rocky western United States, known for its distinctive black facial necklace and cackling call echoing across canyon terrain.
gamebird
Bar-tailed Godwit
A long-billed godwit famous for making the longest recorded nonstop migratory flights of any bird, connecting Arctic breeding grounds with wintering coasts across the Old World and Australasia.
shorebird
Weka
A large, bold, flightless New Zealand rail with rich brown plumage, famous for its cheeky, opportunistic curiosity and its habit of investigating and sometimes stealing unattended items from campsites.
other
North Island Kokako
A slate-blue-grey New Zealand forest bird with striking blue wattles, a weak flier that instead leaps and glides gracefully through the canopy, once nearly lost but now recovering thanks to intensive conservation.
songbird