Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Java Sparrow
A sleek grey-and-white estrildid finch with a bold black head, white cheek patch, and a large pink bill, native to Indonesia and widely introduced elsewhere.
songbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
A Gulf Coast hummingbird with a warm buffy belly, rufous tail, and a red bill tipped in black.
hummingbird
Phainopepla
A slim, crested desert songbird; glossy jet-black males and soft gray females that depend heavily on mistletoe berries.
songbird
Hen Harrier
A slim, long-winged harrier of open moorland; the pale grey male is nicknamed the 'grey ghost', while the streaky brown female is known as a 'ringtail'.
raptor
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
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
A common southern African savanna hornbill instantly recognizable by its black-and-white plumage and oversized curved yellow bill.
other
Red-crowned Parakeet
A small, bright green New Zealand parakeet with a crimson crown and eye-stripe, now largely restricted to predator-free offshore islands and forest reserves.
parrot
Marbled Godwit
A large, cinnamon-buff shorebird with a long, slightly upturned bicolored bill, breeding on North American prairie wetlands and wintering along coasts.
shorebird
Hepatic Tanager
A dusky, brick-red tanager of southwestern mountain pine-oak forests, named for a rich red color reminiscent of liver tissue, with a distinctive dark gray cheek patch.
songbird
Bean Goose
A large, dark-headed grey goose of northern Eurasia named for its habit of feeding in fields of beans and grain during migration.
waterfowl
Tufted Duck
A compact Eurasian diving duck with a drooping head tuft, the drake strikingly patterned in black and white and occasionally found among scaup flocks in North America.
waterfowl
Pacific Golden-Plover
A slender, long-legged golden-plover that migrates from Siberian and Alaskan tundra to a vast wintering range spanning Pacific islands, coastal Asia, and Australia.
shorebird
Chestnut-eared Bunting
A bunting with a rich chestnut ear patch, a grey crown, and a necklace of dark streaks across a pale, buffy breast.
songbird
Short-eared Owl
A pale, ground-nesting owl of open country that hunts by day in low, buoyant, moth-like flight over fields and marshes.
owl
Wrentit
A drab, long-tailed skulker of Pacific coastal chaparral, far more often heard than seen, with a distinctive bouncing-ball song.
songbird
Canyon Towhee
A drab, grayish-brown desert towhee closely resembling the California Towhee but with a faint breast spot and rustier crown.
songbird
Common Chaffinch
One of Europe's most abundant finches, the male sporting a blue-gray crown and pink-buff breast, both sexes showing bold white wing bars.
songbird
Bonelli's Eagle
A powerful, agile eagle of Mediterranean cliffs and gorges, Bonelli's Eagle is a fast, low-flying hunter of rabbits and gamebirds across southern Europe, Africa, and Asia.
raptor
Lesser Yellowlegs
A slim, delicate sandpiper with bright yellow legs, essentially a smaller, daintier version of the Greater Yellowlegs with a shorter, straighter bill.
shorebird
Kentucky Warbler
A ground-loving, skulking warbler of southeastern forests, olive above and bright yellow below, with bold black "sideburns" framing yellow spectacles.
songbird
Cave Swallow
A cliff-swallow relative with a buffy forehead and throat that nests colonially under bridges and in caves and culverts across the southern US and Caribbean.
songbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
A canopy-dwelling eastern vireo with a bright yellow throat and spectacles, olive back, and a slow, burry song.
songbird
Common Redpoll
A tiny, hardy arctic finch with a red cap and black chin that irrupts south to feeders in some winters.
songbird
American Kestrel
North America's smallest and most colorful falcon, often seen perched on wires hunting insects and small rodents.
raptor