Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Blacksmith Lapwing
The Blacksmith Lapwing is a striking black, white, and grey wetland plover named for its metallic "tink-tink" alarm call that resembles a blacksmith's hammer on an anvil.
shorebird
Amethyst Sunbird
A sunbird that looks almost entirely black at rest but flashes brilliant amethyst-purple on its crown and throat when caught in good light.
songbird
White-necked Puffbird
A large, big-headed, black-and-white puffbird that perches motionless on high open branches before sallying out for large prey.
other
Rusty Blackbird
A boreal-breeding blackbird that turns rusty-edged in fall plumage, now one of the most steeply declining songbirds in North America.
songbird
Pied Currawong
A large, mostly black songbird of eastern Australia with white wing and tail patches and a loud, ringing 'currawong' call.
songbird
Great Cormorant
A large, widespread cormorant with glossy black-and-bronze plumage, a white throat patch, and a white breeding-season thigh patch, found across much of the Old World.
seabird
Wilson's Warbler
A small, bright yellow warbler with an olive back and, in males, a neat round black cap, often seen flicking its tail as it forages actively in low shrubs.
songbird
Royal Spoonbill
A large white wading bird of Australasia with a distinctive black, spoon-shaped bill that it sweeps through shallow water to feel for prey.
wading-bird
Phainopepla
A slim, crested desert songbird; glossy jet-black males and soft gray females that depend heavily on mistletoe berries.
songbird
Regent Parrot
A slender, long-tailed yellow parrot of mallee and river red gum country, named for its rich golden plumage.
parrot
Blackpoll Warbler
A boreal-breeding warbler famous for its extraordinary nonstop transoceanic migration flight from the northeastern U.S. to South America.
songbird
Common Myna
A brown-bodied, black-headed myna with bright yellow bill, legs, and bare eye patch, one of the world's most successful urban-adapted birds.
songbird
Eurasian Blackbird
A common European thrush; the male is glossy black with a bright orange-yellow bill and eye-ring, while the female is dusky brown.
songbird
Yellow-billed Kite
A common, adaptable African raptor with a bright yellow bill and forked tail, often seen soaring over towns and open country.
raptor
Verreaux's Eagle
A large, all-black eagle of African mountains and cliffs that specializes almost exclusively in hunting rock hyraxes.
raptor
Carrion Crow
An adaptable, all-black crow found in a wide range of habitats, usually alone or in pairs rather than large flocks.
songbird
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
Red-winged Blackbird
A glossy black marsh bird whose males display bold red-and-yellow shoulder patches while perched and singing atop cattails.
songbird
White-tailed Kite
A pale, elegant hawk with black shoulder patches that hunts by hovering gracefully over open fields on beating wings.
raptor
Eurasian Coot
An all-black waterbird with a bright white bill and frontal shield, common on lakes and park ponds across Eurasia.
wading-bird
African Penguin
The only penguin species breeding on the African continent, named for its loud, donkey-like braying call and identified by a black facial mask and unique belly-spot pattern.
seabird
Redhead
A round-headed diving duck whose drake has a rounded rusty-red head, gray body, and black breast, and which often nests parasitically in other ducks' nests.
waterfowl
Yellow-hooded Blackbird
A marsh-dwelling blackbird whose males show a brilliant yellow head and breast contrasting sharply with an otherwise glossy black body.
songbird
Blackburnian Warbler
A dazzling warbler with a blazing orange throat and face on breeding males, often glimpsed high in conifer treetops and nicknamed the 'firethroat.'
songbird