Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
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
Tropical Kingbird
A common, widespread tropical flycatcher with a gray head, olive back, lemon-yellow belly, and a rapid twittering call, nearly identical to Couch's Kingbird.
songbird
Anna's Hummingbird
A common, non-migratory West Coast hummingbird whose males flash an iridescent rose-pink crown and throat and perform a spectacular, chirping high-speed dive display.
hummingbird
Gray Partridge
A round, orange-faced partridge of open farm country, introduced to North America from Europe, with a distinctive chestnut horseshoe mark on the male's belly.
gamebird
Pileated Woodpecker
North America's largest common woodpecker, a crow-sized, mostly black bird with a flaming red crest, famous for excavating large rectangular holes in dead trees.
woodpecker
Dickcissel
A grassland songbird resembling a small meadowlark, with breeding males showing a yellow breast, black bib, and a name derived from its buzzy, insect-like song.
songbird
Bicknell's Thrush
A rare, high-elevation thrush of northeastern mountaintop spruce forests, nearly identical to Gray-cheeked Thrush but with a much smaller, more threatened range.
songbird
Rough-legged Hawk
A large arctic-breeding hawk with feathered legs, seen across open fields and marshes farther south in winter, known for its habit of hovering while hunting.
raptor
Worm-eating Warbler
A plain buffy warbler with bold black head stripes, best known for its habit of probing curled dead leaves for caterpillars rather than eating earthworms.
songbird
McCown's Longspur
A thick-billed prairie longspur historically named for a 19th-century army officer; in 2020 the American Ornithological Society officially renamed the species Thick-billed Longspur.
songbird
Chuck-will's-widow
The largest nightjar in North America, renowned for its cryptic camouflage and its repetitive nocturnal call echoing through southeastern woodlands.
other
Black-chinned Hummingbird
A highly adaptable western hummingbird famous for the male's velvet-black throat and glittering violet collar, often seen pumping its tail while feeding.
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
Western Tanager
A vivid yellow-and-black tanager of western coniferous forests, with breeding males showing a striking orange-red head produced from a diet-derived pigment.
songbird
Yellow-throated Warbler
A gray-backed warbler with a bright yellow throat and bold black-and-white face pattern, well adapted for creeping along bark and probing pine needle clusters and Spanish moss.
songbird
Northern Waterthrush
A boreal-breeding, thrush-like warbler of still-water wetlands and swamps, closely resembling Louisiana Waterthrush but favoring quieter water and showing a finely streaked throat.
songbird
Altamira Oriole
The largest oriole in the United States, a bright orange bird found only in the Rio Grande Valley of extreme south Texas, famous for weaving the longest hanging nest of any North American bird.
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
California Quail
A charming, ground-dwelling bird recognized by its curved, comma-shaped head plume and classic 'chi-ca-go' call, frequenting chaparral and suburban gardens across the Pacific Coast.
gamebird
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
California Condor
North America's largest flying land bird, an enormous black scavenger with a naked orange-pink head, brought back from the brink of extinction through intensive captive breeding.
raptor
Cerulean Warbler
A sky-blue, canopy-dwelling warbler of mature eastern forests, among the fastest-declining North American warblers due to habitat loss on both its breeding and wintering grounds.
songbird
Tennessee Warbler
A plain, energetic warbler with a gray head, white eyebrow stripe, and olive back, named for a stray specimen collected in Tennessee though it neither breeds nor regularly winters there.
songbird
Black-throated Sparrow
A striking desert sparrow with a bold black throat framed by crisp white eyebrow and whisker stripes.
songbird