Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
American Crow
A highly intelligent, all-black corvid famous for its adaptability, problem-solving, and complex social behavior.
songbird
Fish Crow
A smaller, coastal cousin of the American Crow best told apart by its distinctive nasal, two-note call.
songbird
Northwestern Crow
A small, coastal crow of the Pacific Northwest closely resembling the American Crow and often found foraging along tidelines.
songbird
American Kestrel
North America's smallest and most colorful falcon, often seen perched on wires hunting insects and small rodents.
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
American Goldfinch
A small finch famous for the male's brilliant lemon-yellow breeding plumage and black cap, wings, and tail.
songbird
American Woodcock
A plump, superbly camouflaged forest-dwelling shorebird famous for the male's spectacular twilight sky dance courtship flight.
shorebird
American Oystercatcher
A large, boldly patterned coastal shorebird with a long, bright orange-red bill built for prying open shellfish.
shorebird
American Coot
A stocky slate-grey marsh bird with a chalky white bill, often mistaken for a duck though it is actually a rail.
wading-bird
American Wigeon
A round-headed dabbling duck nicknamed 'baldpate' for the male's creamy white forehead crown that contrasts with an iridescent green eye patch.
waterfowl
American Bittern
A master of camouflage among North American marshes, best known for its odd pumping call and its habit of freezing bill-up in the reeds.
wading-bird
American Avocet
An elegant black-and-white shorebird with a slender upturned bill and, in breeding season, a warm cinnamon-orange head and neck.
shorebird
American Pipit
A slender, streaky brown songbird of open ground that constantly bobs its tail as it walks.
songbird
American Robin
A familiar orange-breasted thrush with a gray-brown back, often seen hopping across lawns in search of earthworms.
songbird
American White Pelican
One of North America's largest birds, a huge white waterbird with a massive orange bill that fishes cooperatively by herding fish into shallow water.
seabird
American Golden-Plover
A slim, elegant plover with gold-spangled upperparts that undertakes one of the longest migrations of any shorebird, between Arctic tundra and South American grasslands.
shorebird
American Purple Gallinule
The traditional American name for the Purple Gallinule, a jewel-toned marsh bird with purple-blue plumage and huge yellow feet.
wading-bird
American Tree Sparrow
A rusty-capped sparrow with a bicolored bill and a dark central breast spot, a true winter visitor to much of North America despite its name.
songbird
American Three-toed Woodpecker
A boreal woodpecker with a barred black-and-white back, three toes per foot, and a taste for beetle-infested spruce.
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
White-crowned Sparrow
A crisply marked sparrow with bold black-and-white crown stripes, a plain gray breast, and a pink or yellowish bill.
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
Golden-crowned Sparrow
A large sparrow with a bold black-and-yellow crown stripe, best known for its mournful three-note whistled song, 'oh-dear-me'.
songbird
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
A chunky, non-migratory sparrow of rocky hillsides marked by a rusty cap and a black-and-white striped face.
songbird