Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Painted Bunting
Often called the most colorful bird in North America, the male Painted Bunting displays an almost impossibly vivid patchwork of blue, green, and red.
songbird
Hooded Merganser
A small, striking fish-eating duck with a large fan-shaped crest, breeding males show a bold black-and-white head patch that they can raise or flatten at will.
waterfowl
Red-eyed Vireo
A tireless singer of eastern and northern forests, nicknamed the 'preacher bird' for its endless repeated phrases, with a gray cap, white eyebrow, and red eye.
songbird
Alder Flycatcher
A plain, olive-brown Empidonax flycatcher of northern alder swamps and wet shrublands, virtually identical to the Willow Flycatcher except by voice.
songbird
Vermilion Flycatcher
A tiny, brilliant scarlet-red flycatcher of southwestern deserts and riverbanks, among the most vividly colored songbirds in North America.
songbird
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
The brightest and most yellow of the eastern Empidonax flycatchers, breeding in boggy boreal forest and giving a soft, plaintive whistled call.
songbird
Lesser Prairie-Chicken
A small, pale prairie grouse of the southern Great Plains, closely related to the Greater Prairie-Chicken but adapted to drier shortgrass and shrub-steppe habitat.
gamebird
Gray Flycatcher
A pale, long-tailed Empidonax flycatcher of sagebrush and pinyon-juniper country, distinguished by its habit of slowly dipping its tail downward.
songbird
Black Swift
The largest North American swift, an all-dark bird that nests almost exclusively on cliff ledges behind or near waterfalls and in coastal sea caves.
other
Mourning Dove
A slender, soft-brown dove with a long pointed tail, one of the most abundant and widespread birds in North America, known for its mournful cooing call.
other
Red-naped Sapsucker
A western sapsucker closely resembling the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, distinguished by a red patch extending onto the nape, and closely tied to mountain aspen groves.
woodpecker
Black Vulture
A stocky, all-black scavenger with a bare gray head and short, broad wings, recognized in flight by white patches near the wingtips and quick, choppy flapping.
raptor
American Redstart
An acrobatic warbler often called 'the butterfly bird' for its habit of fanning bold orange or yellow tail and wing patches while flushing insects.
songbird
Baltimore Oriole
A brilliant flame-orange and black songbird of eastern North America, named for the heraldic colors of Lord Baltimore, known for its hanging pouch nest.
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
Orange-crowned Warbler
A plain, drab olive warbler with a faint eyeline and blurry streaking below, whose namesake orange crown patch is usually hidden from view.
songbird
Brown Thrasher
A large, rich reddish-brown songbird with heavy dark streaking below and bright yellow eyes, known for an extensive repertoire of paired song phrases.
songbird
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
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
Costa's Hummingbird
A desert-dwelling hummingbird renowned for the male's dramatic mustache-like violet gorget and piercing, high-pitched dive-bombing displays.
hummingbird
Gadwall
A subtly beautiful, medium-sized dabbling duck known for its intricate gray-brown male plumage, black rear, and distinctive white wing patch.
waterfowl
Blue-winged Teal
A small, dabbling duck famous for the striking white crescent on the male's face and its brilliant powdery-blue wing patches exposed in flight.
waterfowl
Cinnamon Teal
A small dabbling duck of western wetlands, the breeding male is unmistakable with his rich, glowing cinnamon plumage and striking red eyes.
waterfowl
Greater Roadrunner
A famous, fast-running desert cuckoo known for its distinctive crest, long tail, and ability to hunt venomous prey including rattlesnakes.
other