Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
A small, reddish, day-active owl of arid borderland scrub, distinguished from its close relative by a streaked (not spotted) crown and rusty tail.
owl
Common Sandpiper
The Old World counterpart of the Spotted Sandpiper, a small, constantly bobbing shorebird found along rivers, streams, and lakes across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
shorebird
Boreal Owl
A small, elusive owl of northern boreal forests with a squarish facial disc and a soft, high-pitched song heard mostly on cold winter nights.
owl
Bell Miner
A small, olive-green colonial honeyeater famous for its incessant, high-pitched, bell-like tinkling call, usually heard before it is seen.
songbird
Red-whiskered Bulbul
A perky, crested bulbul with white cheeks, a small red "whisker" patch behind the eye, and a red vent, popular in gardens across South and Southeast Asia.
songbird
Superb Fruit Dove
A small, jewel-colored fruit dove; the male combines a purple crown, orange nape, grey chest band, and green back into a dazzling patchwork of color.
other
Grey Fantail
A small, restless grey-brown bird known for constantly fanning and flicking its long, white-edged tail while chasing insects through the foliage.
songbird
Daurian Redstart
A striking small thrush relative; the male shows a grey crown, black face, and vivid orange underparts and rump set off by a white wing patch.
songbird
Eurasian Siskin
A small, active yellow-green finch of conifer forests; the male has a black cap and bib, both sexes showing bright yellow wing bars.
songbird
Black-faced Spoonbill
One of the rarest spoonbills in the world, a white East Asian wading bird with a black spatulate bill that breeds on a handful of small islands off the Korean Peninsula.
wading-bird
Blue-winged Teal
A small, long-distance migrant dabbling duck whose drake shows a bold white crescent before the eye and a powder-blue wing patch in flight.
waterfowl
Black Tern
A small, buoyant marsh tern that turns almost entirely sooty black in breeding plumage and feeds by dipping to the water surface rather than plunge-diving.
seabird
Black Guillemot
A small all-black auk with striking white wing patches and bright red legs and mouth lining, found along rocky North Atlantic coasts.
seabird
Virginia's Warbler
A plain gray warbler of dry southwestern mountain scrub, with a bold white eyering, a small yellow breast patch, and yellow undertail coverts.
songbird
White-bellied Sunbird
A small southern African sunbird whose iridescent green head and clean white belly make it one of the easier local sunbirds to identify.
songbird
Willow Tit
A small, plain tit nearly identical to the Marsh Tit but with a duller matte-black cap, favoring damp woodland and willow or birch scrub.
songbird
Wilson's Bird-of-paradise
A small, dazzlingly colored bird-of-paradise found only on two Indonesian islands, with a bare turquoise crown and curled violet tail wires.
songbird
Spinifex Pigeon
A small, richly cinnamon-colored ground pigeon of arid spinifex country, with a tall pointed crest and bold red-and-black facial markings.
other
Rose-crowned Fruit Dove
A small, brightly colored fruit dove with a green body, a rose-pink crown, a grey breast, and a rich yellow-orange belly patch.
other
Northern Parula
A small, compact, blue-gray and yellow warbler with a distinctive bicolored bill, closely tied to hanging Spanish moss or Usnea lichen for nesting.
songbird
Splendid Fairywren
A small songbird of Australia's dry interior whose breeding males turn an almost impossibly vivid all-over cobalt and violet blue.
songbird
Guianan Toucanet
A small toucan of the Guiana Shield forests, with males showing a black head and a mostly greenish bill, and females bearing a rich chestnut cap.
other
Little Blue Heron
A small heron of American wetlands, slate-blue as an adult but confusingly all-white as a juvenile, undergoing a mottled transition in its second year.
wading-bird
Monk Parakeet
A small green Neotropical parakeet uniquely known for building large, elaborate communal stick nests rather than nesting in tree cavities.
parrot