Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Western Plantain-eater
A large, grey-brown turaco relative of West African savanna, easily spotted by its heavy yellow-tipped bill and bold white wing patches in flight.
other
Sooty Shearwater
A dark, sooty-brown shearwater famous for one of the longest annual migrations of any bird, tracing a huge figure-eight loop across entire ocean basins.
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
Marsh Tit
A small, plain brown-gray tit with a glossy black cap and neat black bib, closely resembling the Willow Tit but favoring drier, more mature woodland.
songbird
Albert's Lyrebird
A rare, secretive lyrebird confined to a tiny pocket of rainforest on the New South Wales-Queensland border, known for its rich mimicry and warm reddish-brown plumage.
songbird
Bridled Tern
A pelagic tropical tern, browner and paler than its close relative the Sooty Tern, with a thin white 'bridle' line extending behind the eye.
seabird
White-throated Kingfisher
A vividly colored kingfisher with turquoise-blue upperparts, a chocolate-brown head, and a bright white throat, often seen far from water.
other
Swainson's Warbler
A plain, secretive brown warbler of dense southeastern thickets, more often heard than seen thanks to its loud, ringing song.
songbird
Lesser Rhea
A large flightless bird of the southern South American steppe, smaller and paler than the Greater Rhea, with grayish-brown plumage flecked with white.
other
Eurasian Hoopoe
An unmistakable pinkish-brown bird with a tall erectile crest, boldly barred wings, and a long curved bill, named for its distinctive call.
other
Eastern Phoebe
A plain grayish-brown flycatcher that pumps its tail while perched and famously nests on bridges, eaves, and other man-made structures.
songbird
Cedar Waxwing
A sleek, crested, silky-brown songbird with a yellow-tipped tail and waxy red wingtips that travels in nomadic flocks following fruit crops.
songbird
African Grey Hornbill
A widespread African hornbill with understated grey-brown plumage, a pale eyebrow stripe, and a dark bill topped by a bony casque ridge in males.
other
Willow Ptarmigan
A tundra grouse and Alaska's state bird, turning pure white in winter and rich mottled rufous-brown in summer, with males retaining a chestnut head and neck longest into spring.
gamebird
Mourning Dove
A slender, soft grayish-brown dove with a long pointed tail, one of the most widespread and familiar birds in North America, named for its low, mournful cooing call.
other
Morepork
New Zealand's only surviving native owl, a small, compact brown owl named for its distinctive, far-carrying "more-pork" call heard after dark.
owl
Willet
A plain gray-brown sandpiper that transforms in flight, flashing a bold black-and-white wing pattern unlike any other North American shorebird.
shorebird
Semipalmated Sandpiper
A small, gray-brown sandpiper with a short, straight bill and partially webbed toes, famous for forming massive migratory flocks at coastal staging sites.
shorebird
Spotted Owl
A dark-eyed, chocolate-brown forest owl closely tied to old-growth woodland and famous as a flagship species for old-growth conservation debates.
owl
Northern Pintail
An elegant, slender dabbling duck named for the male's long, needle-like tail, marked by a chocolate-brown head and a crisp white neck stripe.
waterfowl
Jungle Myna
A grey-brown myna with a distinctive tuft of feathers on the forehead and pale blue-white eyes, common across South and Southeast Asian towns and farmland.
songbird
Dark-eyed Junco
A small, highly variable sparrow-relative often called a "snowbird," typically dark gray or brown above with a contrasting white belly and pink bill.
songbird
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
One of the largest toucans in the Americas, with black plumage, a yellow bib, and a long bill that is mostly black above with a distinctive chestnut-brown lower mandible.
other
Australian Owlet-nightjar
A small, big-eyed nocturnal bird with soft grey-brown mottled plumage and whisker-like facial bristles, often seen peering from a tree hollow entrance by day.
other