Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Crested Pigeon
A grey-brown pigeon with a slender upright black crest and iridescent green-and-purple wing patches, whose wings produce a distinctive whistling sound in flight.
other
Rock Ptarmigan
A circumpolar tundra grouse of barren, rocky terrain that turns snow-white in winter, with breeding males showing a distinctive black eye-line in spring.
gamebird
Peruvian Pelican
A large, dark pelican of the cold Humboldt Current, closely tied to the rich anchoveta fisheries off Peru and Chile and vulnerable to periodic El Nino-driven food shortages.
seabird
Brown Pelican
A familiar coastal seabird known for its dramatic head-first plunge-dives from height into the ocean to catch fish, once endangered by DDT but now fully recovered.
seabird
Western Yellow Wagtail
A slender, bright yellow-bellied wagtail of wet grasslands and farmland, often seen darting around the feet of grazing cattle to snap up disturbed insects.
songbird
White-faced Ibis
A dark, iridescent ibis of western wetlands, closely resembling the Glossy Ibis but marked by a thin band of white feathering around its red eye and face during breeding.
wading-bird
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
A plain olive-grey honeyeater with a bold black-and-yellow stripe across the face, best known for forming huge migratory flocks along the east coast each autumn.
songbird
Wilson's Phalarope
The largest of the three phalarope species and the only one to breed in interior wetlands rather than the Arctic, with brighter females that spin gracefully on shallow ponds.
shorebird
Spruce Grouse
A tame, dark forest grouse of the northern boreal woods that relies so heavily on camouflage it often allows extremely close approach, earning it the nickname "fool hen."
gamebird
Sabine's Gull
A strikingly patterned Arctic gull with a bold tricolored wing and forked tail, spending most of the year far out at sea and undertaking one of the longest migrations of any gull.
seabird
Palm Tanager
A common, unassuming tropical tanager with olive-gray to grayish-brown plumage and slightly darker wings, frequently seen alongside the more colorful Blue-gray Tanager.
songbird
Ruff
A striking, highly dimorphic sandpiper whose males grow ornate, colorful neck ruffs and head tufts for elaborate communal courtship displays at a lek.
shorebird
Grey Wagtail
A slender, strikingly long-tailed wagtail with bright yellow underparts, closely tied to fast-flowing streams and rivers where it bobs along rocks and weirs.
songbird
Great Crested Flycatcher
A large canopy flycatcher of eastern woodlands with a lemon-yellow belly, rufous tail, and a loud, whistled call, famous for weaving shed snakeskin into its nest.
songbird
Green Peafowl
A large, iridescent Southeast Asian peafowl with scaly green-and-bronze body plumage and a tall wire-like crest, now endangered from hunting and habitat loss.
gamebird
Hooded Crane
A small, dark East Asian crane with a white head and neck resembling a hood, a red crown patch, and one of the most geographically concentrated wintering populations of any crane.
wading-bird
Manx Shearwater
A small, sharply black-and-white shearwater of the North Atlantic that skims low over waves with stiff wingbeats, nesting in burrows on grassy offshore islands.
seabird
Homing Pigeon
A domestic pigeon breed selectively developed for a strong, fast flight and an exceptional ability to navigate back to its home loft over long distances.
other
Hooded Warbler
A vivid yellow-faced warbler of eastern forest understory whose males wear a bold black hood, and which flashes white outer tail feathers as it flicks its tail while foraging.
songbird
Leach's Storm-Petrel
A small, dark, forked-tailed storm-petrel with an erratic, bat-like flight, spending nearly its entire life far out at sea and visiting nesting burrows only at night.
seabird
Dusky Flycatcher
A gray-olive Empidonax flycatcher of open western mountain shrublands and forest edges, closely resembling several relatives and best told apart by voice.
songbird
Forster's Tern
A medium-sized tern that breeds almost entirely within North America, distinguished from the similar Common Tern by its pale, silvery wingtips and orange legs.
seabird
Domestic Pigeon
The familiar pigeon of city streets and parks, descended from escaped and released domesticated Rock Doves and now established in urban areas worldwide.
other
Gadwall
A subtly patterned gray dabbling duck whose understated plumage reveals intricate vermiculated markings and a black rear end when seen up close.
waterfowl