Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
European Starling
A stocky, iridescent black songbird introduced to North America in the 1890s, known for its speckled winter plumage, versatile mimicry, and massive flocks.
songbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
A brood-parasitic blackbird whose glossy brown head contrasts with the male's black body, famous for laying eggs in other birds' nests.
songbird
Montezuma Quail
A round, secretive quail of southwestern oak woodlands, with a bold black-and-white harlequin facial pattern on males.
gamebird
Nuttall's Woodpecker
A small black-and-white woodpecker nearly endemic to California, closely tied to oak woodland and streamside groves.
woodpecker
Lawrence's Goldfinch
A gray-and-yellow goldfinch with a black face, restricted to California and Baja California and famously unpredictable in its movements.
songbird
Five-striped Sparrow
A boldly patterned, black-throated sparrow found in the US only in a handful of remote southeastern Arizona canyons.
songbird
Horned Lark
A ground-loving open-country songbird named for the tiny black feather tufts, or "horns," on its head.
songbird
Bobolink
A grassland songbird famous for the breeding male's striking black-and-white "backward tuxedo" plumage and one of the longest migrations of any North American songbird.
songbird
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
Baltimore Oriole
A brilliant flame-orange and black songbird of eastern North America, named for the heraldic colors of Lord Baltimore, known for its hanging pouch nest.
songbird
American Three-toed Woodpecker
A boreal woodpecker with a barred black-and-white back, three toes per foot, and a taste for beetle-infested spruce.
woodpecker
Greater White-fronted Goose
A medium-large brownish-gray goose with a white patch around the base of the bill and irregular black barring on the belly.
waterfowl
Eastern Meadowlark
A grassland songbird with a bright yellow breast crossed by a bold black V and a rich, flute-like whistled song.
songbird
Pileated Woodpecker
North America's largest common woodpecker, a crow-sized, mostly black bird with a flaming red crest, famous for excavating large rectangular holes in dead trees.
woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
A medium-sized eastern woodpecker with a black-and-white barred back and a red-capped head, whose faint pinkish belly wash is rarely visible in the field.
woodpecker
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
The only hummingbird that regularly breeds in eastern North America, with males showing a brilliant iridescent ruby-red throat that can flash black in poor light.
hummingbird
Gadwall
A subtly beautiful, medium-sized dabbling duck known for its intricate gray-brown male plumage, black rear, and distinctive white wing patch.
waterfowl
Painted Redstart
A striking black warbler with a bright red breast patch and bold white wing patch, common in oak canyons of the Southwest.
songbird
Bullock's Oriole
The common western oriole, with males showing brilliant orange plumage, a bold black eyeline, and a large white wing patch.
songbird
Chipping Sparrow
A small, slender sparrow with a bright rufous cap, black eye-line, and clean gray underparts, common in yards with conifers.
songbird
Downy Woodpecker
North America's smallest woodpecker, a friendly black-and-white bird with a small bill, common at backyard feeders across the continent.
woodpecker
Hermit Warbler
A plain-faced, bright yellow-headed warbler of Pacific mountain conifer forests, with a black throat and gray, unstreaked back, that hybridizes with the closely related Townsend's Warbler.
songbird
Varied Bunting
A desert bunting whose male appears deep purple-blue with a rosy nape patch in good light, but nearly black in shade, found in thorny borderland scrub.
songbird
Hooded Merganser
A small, striking fish-eating duck with a large fan-shaped crest, breeding males show a bold black-and-white head patch that they can raise or flatten at will.
waterfowl