Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Common Redpoll
A tiny, hardy arctic finch with a red cap and black chin that irrupts south to feeders in some winters.
songbird
Prairie Warbler
A bright yellow, tail-wagging warbler of shrubby old fields and scrub, with bold black facial markings and chestnut streaking on the back despite its misleading name.
songbird
Cassin's Finch
A rosy-crowned montane finch of western conifer forests, closely resembling the Purple Finch but with a more sharply contrasting cap.
songbird
Magnolia Warbler
A boldly patterned warbler with a black-streaked yellow breast and a distinctive black-and-white tail band, best identified from below in flight.
songbird
Boreal Chickadee
A brown-capped chickadee of the northern boreal forest, quieter and less familiar than its black-capped relative.
songbird
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
Northern Cardinal
A brilliant all-red songbird with a prominent crest and thick orange-red bill, common at backyard feeders across the eastern and central U.S.
songbird
Juniper Titmouse
A plain gray, crested titmouse of pinyon-juniper woodlands across the Great Basin and interior West.
songbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
A brood-parasitic blackbird whose glossy brown head contrasts with the male's black body, famous for laying eggs in other birds' nests.
songbird
Black-throated Green Warbler
A bright yellow-faced warbler with an olive-green back and a black throat and bib on breeding males, common in northern conifer and hemlock forests.
songbird
Sagebrush Sparrow
A gray-headed, sagebrush-obligate sparrow that runs on the ground with its tail cocked, split from Bell's Sparrow in 2013.
songbird
Carolina Wren
A small, round, reddish-brown wren with a bold white eyebrow stripe and a surprisingly loud, ringing song for its size.
songbird
Harris's Sparrow
North America's largest sparrow, with a black hood and bib framing a pink bill, breeding only in Canada and wintering on the Great Plains.
songbird
Lark Bunting
A gregarious prairie songbird whose breeding male turns entirely black with a bold white wing patch, Colorado's state bird.
songbird
Tufted Titmouse
A gray, crested songbird with a black forehead patch, white underparts, and rusty flanks, common at eastern U.S. feeders.
songbird
Bufflehead
A tiny, energetic diving duck of North America, recognized by the male's striking white wedge on his oversized, iridescent head.
waterfowl
Abert's Towhee
A plain grayish-brown desert towhee with a black face mask, restricted to riparian corridors of the Sonoran Desert region.
songbird
Barrow's Goldeneye
A striking sea duck of western North America and Iceland, known for the male's crescent-shaped facial patch and distinctive purplish head.
waterfowl
Common Nighthawk
A master of aerial acrobatics, the Common Nighthawk is a cryptically patterned nightjar easily recognized by the bold white bars on its long, pointed wings as it hunts insects at dusk.
other
Lesser Scaup
A small to medium-sized diving duck with a distinctive peaked crown, commonly seen in massive wintering rafts on inland lakes and bays.
waterfowl
Common Poorwill
The smallest North American nightjar, famous for its ability to enter a prolonged state of torpor to survive cold winters.
other
Northern Pintail
Often called the 'greyhound of the air,' the Northern Pintail is an elegant, slender dabbling duck celebrated for its long neck and needle-pointed tail.
waterfowl
Broad-billed Hummingbird
A vibrant southwestern hummingbird famed for the male's striking blue-violet throat and brilliant red, black-tipped bill.
hummingbird
Black-billed Cuckoo
A slender and secretive forest bird celebrated for its appetite for spiny caterpillars and its rhythmic, repetitive vocalizations.
other
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
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Nicknamed the 'rain crow,' this secretive, elegant forest bird is renowned for its distinctive guttural calls and specialized appetite for hairy caterpillars.
other
Allen's Hummingbird
A fiery, copper-and-green jewel of the Pacific coast, celebrated for the male's glowing orange throat and spectacular pendulum aerial dives.
hummingbird
Inca Dove
A diminutive, desert-adapted dove easily recognized by its heavily scaly plumage, long slender tail, and monotonous 'no-hope' call.
other
Greater Sage-Grouse
Famous for their spectacular springtime courtship displays on communal lekking grounds, the Greater Sage-Grouse is an iconic, sagebrush-obligate resident of Western North America's shrublands.
gamebird
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
A montane bird of western peaks, famous for the male's rose-magenta throat and a loud, metallic wing trill heard in flight.
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
Lucifer Hummingbird
A striking desert hummingbird known for the male's brilliant magenta-purple gorget, deeply forked tail, and distinctly curved bill.
hummingbird
Mallard
The Mallard is an abundant and highly recognizable dabbling duck, famous for the breeding male's iridescent green head and bright yellow bill.
waterfowl
Calliope Hummingbird
The smallest bird in North America north of Mexico, famous for the male's spectacular magenta-striped throat and its remarkable high-altitude migration.
hummingbird
White-tipped Dove
A stealthy, ground-dwelling dove of the Americas, known for its ghostly, bottle-like hooting and flashing white tail-tips.
other
Tufted Duck
A small diving duck of Eurasia, easily recognized by the male's striking black-and-white plumage, bright yellow eyes, and distinct hanging crest or 'tuft'.
waterfowl
Common Goldeneye
A medium-sized diving duck named for its striking yellow eyes, known for the high-pitched whistling sound produced by its wings in flight.
waterfowl
Greater Scaup
A robust diving duck of northern waters, best recognized by its rounded head, pale grey back, and preference for gathering in large, dense flocks on coastal bays and vast lakes.
waterfowl
Redhead
A medium-sized diving duck easily recognized by the male's striking cinnamon-red head, steep forehead, and bright yellow eyes.
waterfowl
Ring-necked Duck
A distinctive diving duck of freshwater ponds, easily recognized by its sharply peaked head, black back, and boldly banded bill.
waterfowl
Canvasback
The Canvasback is a large, elegant diving duck easily recognized by its distinctive long, sloping profile and the male's striking white body, reddish-brown head, and black chest.
waterfowl
Wood Duck
Renowned for its breathtakingly colorful plumage, the Wood Duck is a unique, tree-nesting waterfowl found in forested wetlands across North America.
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
Eurasian Wigeon
A medium-sized dabbling duck recognized by the male's striking chestnut head, cream-colored crown, and diagnostic whistling call.
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
American Wigeon
A colorful dabbling duck known for the male's white crown, iridescent green eye patch, and high-pitched whistling call.
waterfowl
Green-winged Teal
The smallest dabbling duck in North America, renowned for its agile flight, the male's striking green head stripe, and its brilliant green speculum.
waterfowl
Northern Shoveler
A medium-sized dabbling duck instantly recognizable by its extraordinarily large, spatula-shaped bill used to filter-feed in shallow waters.
waterfowl