Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Water Rail
A slim Eurasian marsh bird with a long red bill, gray underparts, and barred flanks, more often heard than seen.
wading-bird
Water Pipit
A gray-toned mountain pipit that breeds above the treeline and descends to lowland wetlands in winter.
songbird
Bush Stone-curlew
A large, cryptic ground bird with enormous yellow eyes and an eerie, wailing call heard mostly after dark.
shorebird
Pied-billed Grebe
A chunky, secretive brown grebe of the Americas, named for its thick, pale bill marked with a black ring in the breeding season.
waterfowl
American Pipit
A slender, streaky brown songbird of open ground that constantly bobs its tail as it walks.
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
Black Kite
A widespread, adaptable brown raptor with a shallowly forked tail, often seen scavenging in large numbers near towns and water.
raptor
Wood Stork
A large white stork of the Americas with a bald, scaly grey-black head and neck, famous for hunting fish by feel in shallow water.
wading-bird
Royal Spoonbill
A large white wading bird of Australasia with a distinctive black, spoon-shaped bill that it sweeps through shallow water to feel for prey.
wading-bird
Pied Kingfisher
A striking black-and-white kingfisher famed for hovering over water before plunge-diving for fish, common across Africa and Asia.
other
Prothonotary Warbler
A brilliant golden-yellow warbler of southern swamps, unique among eastern warblers for nesting in tree cavities near or over water.
songbird
Black-collared Hawk
A rufous wetland raptor with a pale head and a distinctive black band across the upper breast, specialized for hunting fish over open water.
raptor
Little Pied Cormorant
A small black-and-white Australasian cormorant with a short stubby yellow bill, common on both fresh and salt water.
seabird
Black-necked Stilt
A striking black-and-white shorebird with impossibly long, thin pink legs, wading gracefully through shallow water.
shorebird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
A striking marsh blackbird with a brilliant yellow head and breast on males, forming dense breeding colonies over open water.
songbird
Black Phoebe
A sooty-black flycatcher with a crisp white belly that is almost always found perched near water, pumping its tail.
songbird
Black Tern
A small, buoyant marsh tern that turns almost entirely sooty black in breeding plumage and feeds by dipping to the water surface rather than plunge-diving.
seabird
Great Kiskadee
A big, boldly patterned flycatcher named for its loud 'kis-ka-dee' call, often seen near water snatching insects, small fish, and fruit.
songbird
Maned Duck
A common Australian duck, also called the Australian Wood Duck, known for its dark maned head and its habit of grazing on grass far from water.
waterfowl
White-throated Kingfisher
A vividly colored kingfisher with turquoise-blue upperparts, a chocolate-brown head, and a bright white throat, often seen far from water.
other
Western Grebe
A large, elegant black-and-white grebe with a long swan-like neck, famous for its dramatic rushing courtship dance across the water.
waterfowl
Northern Shoveler
A dabbling duck instantly identified by its oversized, spoon-shaped bill, used to filter tiny invertebrates and seeds from shallow water.
waterfowl
American White Pelican
One of North America's largest birds, an enormous white waterbird with a huge orange bill and pouch that fishes cooperatively by herding fish into shallow water rather than diving.
seabird
Osprey
A large, fish-eating hawk found near water nearly worldwide, easily known by its white underparts, dark eye-stripe, and dramatic feet-first dive for fish.
raptor