Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Northern Mockingbird
A slender gray songbird famous for endlessly mimicking the songs and calls of other birds, with bold white wing patches visible in flight.
songbird
Northern Bobwhite
A small, round-bodied quail of eastern grasslands, named for the male's clear, whistled "bob-WHITE" call.
gamebird
Northern Fulmar
A stocky, gull-like tube-nosed seabird of northern oceans, recognized by its stiff, straight-winged gliding flight low over the waves.
seabird
Northern Flicker
A large, brown, ground-foraging woodpecker with a bold black crescent bib and a flashing white rump patch visible when it flies.
woodpecker
Northern Goshawk
The largest and most powerful accipiter, a fierce forest hawk of mature woodlands with a bold white eyebrow and blazing red eyes.
raptor
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
Northern Harrier
A slim, low-flying hawk of open marshes and fields, identified by its owl-like facial disc and white rump patch.
raptor
Northern Raven
The largest of all songbirds, an immense, all-black corvid with a heavy bill, shaggy throat feathers and a wedge-shaped tail.
songbird
Northern Wheatear
An upright, ground-loving songbird of open country, instantly recognizable in flight by its bold white rump and one of the longest migrations of any small songbird.
songbird
Northern Shoveler
A dabbling duck instantly identified by its oversized, spoon-shaped bill, used to filter tiny invertebrates and seeds from shallow water.
waterfowl
Northern Gannet
The largest seabird in the North Atlantic, gleaming white with black wingtips and a golden-buff wash on the head, famous for spectacular high-speed plunge dives after fish.
seabird
Northern Lapwing
A crested, iridescent plover of European and Asian farmland, known for its tumbling display flights and wheezy "pee-wit" call.
shorebird
Northern Pintail
An elegant, slender dabbling duck named for the male's long, needle-like tail, marked by a chocolate-brown head and a crisp white neck stripe.
waterfowl
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 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
Northern Hawk Owl
A long-tailed, falcon-shaped boreal owl that hunts by day from exposed treetop perches like a hawk.
owl
Northern Pygmy-Owl
A tiny, fierce diurnal owl of western mountain forests, notable for the false 'eyespots' on the back of its head.
owl
Northern Bald Ibis
A dramatic, bald-headed ibis with glossy black plumage and a shaggy neck ruff, once widespread but now one of the world's rarest birds outside a handful of strongholds.
wading-bird
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
A plain brown swallow that nests in burrows in dirt banks, distinguished from other swallows by its uniform pale throat and lack of a breast band.
songbird
Northern Saw-whet Owl
One of North America's smallest owls, a secretive forest dweller named for a call once likened to a saw blade being sharpened.
owl
Baltimore Oriole
A brilliant flame-orange and black songbird of eastern North America, named for the heraldic colors of Lord Baltimore, known for its hanging pouch nest.
songbird
Common Loon
An iconic North American lake bird famed for its striking black-and-white checkered plumage and haunting, wavering calls.
seabird
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
Carmine Bee-eater
A dazzling, migratory African bee-eater with vivid carmine-pink plumage, a turquoise crown and throat, and long tail streamers, often seen riding on the backs of large animals to catch flushed insects.
other