Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
African Jacana
The African Jacana is a striking wetland bird famed for its enormous toes that let it walk across floating lily pads, earning it the nickname "lily-trotter."
shorebird
Wattled Jacana
A chestnut-and-black marsh bird with extraordinarily long toes that let it walk across floating lily pads, notable for its role-reversed breeding system.
wading-bird
African Spoonbill
An all-white African wading bird with a bare red face and a distinctive grey spoon-shaped bill, common on lakes and rivers across the continent.
wading-bird
African Openbill
A dark, glossy African stork whose uniquely gapped bill is specially shaped for extracting freshwater snails from their shells.
wading-bird
African Hoopoe
A distinctive cinnamon-colored African bird with a fan-shaped crest, boldly barred black-and-white wings, and a long curved bill.
other
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
African Skimmer
A slender riverine skimmer of sub-Saharan Africa with an orange-yellow, black-tipped bill, sharing the family's unique lower-mandible-skimming feeding technique.
seabird
African Grey Hornbill
A widespread African hornbill with understated grey-brown plumage, a pale eyebrow stripe, and a dark bill topped by a bony casque ridge in males.
other
African Crowned Eagle
One of Africa's most powerful forest raptors, capable of overpowering prey heavier than itself, earning it the nickname "leopard of the air."
raptor
African Pygmy Falcon
Africa's smallest raptor, a tiny falcon of dry savanna that nests almost exclusively in the communal nests of sociable weavers.
raptor
African Grey Parrot
A medium-sized, ash-grey parrot with a striking bright red tail, a white facial patch, and a reputation as one of the most cognitively advanced birds known.
parrot
African Harrier-Hawk
A grey African raptor famed for its unusually flexible, double-jointed legs, which let it reach deep into tree holes and weaver-bird nests to extract prey.
raptor
African Fish Eagle
A striking white-headed, chestnut-bodied eagle found near lakes and rivers across sub-Saharan Africa, celebrated for its unmistakable, far-carrying call.
raptor
African Paradise Flycatcher
An elegant sub-Saharan African songbird with a glossy blue-black crested head, chestnut plumage, and long trailing tail streamers in males.
songbird
Rufous-tailed Jacamar
A slender, iridescent green bird with a needle-thin bill and rufous underparts that hawks insects from perches along forest edges.
other
Great Jacamar
The largest and heaviest-billed jacamar, glittering coppery-green with a chestnut belly, favoring the shaded interior of lowland rainforest.
other
Japanese Tit
A cheerful East Asian tit with a glossy black head, white cheek patches, and a bold black stripe down its yellowish-white underside.
songbird
Common Ostrich
The world's largest and heaviest living bird, a flightless African ratite known for its long bare legs, tiny head, and remarkable running speed.
other
Japanese Bush Warbler
A skulking, plain olive-brown warbler far better known for its explosive, flute-like spring song than for its rarely seen plumage.
songbird
Japanese White-eye
A tiny, olive-green songbird instantly recognizable by the bold white ring encircling each eye.
songbird
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
The smallest woodpecker in Japan, a sparrow-sized bird finely barred in brown and white, with males showing a tiny red spot on the head.
woodpeckerCongo Peafowl
A secretive rainforest pheasant endemic to the Congo Basin, notable as the only peafowl species native to Africa and for lacking the elaborate train of its Asian relatives.
gamebird
Martial Eagle
Africa's largest and most powerful eagle, the Martial Eagle is a formidable savanna predator capable of taking prey as large as small antelope.
raptor
White-backed Vulture
A gregarious African savanna vulture, once the continent's most numerous vulture, now Critically Endangered due to poisoning.
raptor