Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Black-headed Grosbeak
The western counterpart to the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, with males showing warm cinnamon-orange underparts and a bold black-and-white patterned head.
songbird
Black-throated Blue Warbler
A strikingly two-toned warbler; males are deep slate-blue above and jet-black below with a white belly, while females are plain brownish-olive with a small white wing spot.
songbird
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
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
Superb Starling
A common, strikingly colorful East African starling with a metallic blue-green back, chestnut belly, and a bold white breast band, familiar around safari camps and towns.
songbird
Resplendent Quetzal
A dazzling, iridescent green cloud-forest bird with a crimson breast and, in the male, spectacular tail streamers that can trail well beyond a meter in length.
other
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
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
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
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
Firecrest
A tiny, jewel-like woodland bird closely related to the Goldcrest, but brighter and more boldly patterned with a striking white eyebrow stripe and black eye mask.
songbird
Gadwall
A subtly patterned gray dabbling duck whose understated plumage reveals intricate vermiculated markings and a black rear end when seen up close.
waterfowl
Cordilleran Flycatcher
A yellowish interior-mountain flycatcher virtually identical to the Pacific-slope Flycatcher, found in shaded coniferous canyons of the Rockies and Great Basin.
songbird
Common Redstart
A brightly colored migratory chat of open woodland, the male showing a grey back, black face, and fiery orange breast and tail, constantly quivering its rufous tail.
songbird
Caspian Tern
The largest tern in the world, a gull-sized bird with a massive coral-red bill and a harsh, crow-like call, found on coasts and large lakes across every continent except Antarctica.
seabird
Turquoise Cotinga
A dazzling, range-restricted cotinga whose male glows turquoise-blue with a rich purple throat and breast patch, found only in a small area of southern Central America.
songbird
Southern Ground Hornbill
A large, mostly ground-dwelling African hornbill with black plumage, vivid red facial skin, and deep, booming dawn calls, walking savannas in tight-knit family groups.
other
Greater Roadrunner
A large, fast-running ground cuckoo of the desert Southwest, made famous in cartoons, that sprints after prey with its shaggy crest raised and long tail trailing behind.
other
Great White Pelican
A massive white pelican of Old World wetlands with a wingspan among the largest of any bird, tinged pink in breeding season and prone to spectacular coordinated group fishing.
seabird