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Global Animal Guide

Bird guide · 142 species profiles

Birds

Species guides, bird groups and identification help, with sourced facts and credited photographs.

Quick answer

Birds (class Aves) are warm-blooded vertebrates with feathers, toothless beaks and hard-shelled eggs. Version 15.2 of the IOC World Bird List recognises 11,064 living species in 44 orders and 250 families, and about 60% of them are perching birds. This guide profiles 142 species, from the ostrich to the little penguin, each with its size, diet, range and current IUCN Red List status.

By the editorial team Last reviewed Cite this page How we research & review

Bird groups

Start with a group, compare its species side by side, then open any profile.

All 142 bird profiles by group

Grouped by taxonomic order, so close relatives sit together. The badge shows each species' IUCN Red List category.

Eagles, hawks, falcons and vultures

Compare eagles side by side

Owls

Compare owls side by side

Penguins

Compare penguins side by side

Parrots, cockatoos and macaws

Compare parrots side by side

Ducks, geese and swans

Herons, storks, cranes, ibises and flamingos

Seabirds: albatrosses, gannets, puffins and loons

Gamebirds and poultry

Ostriches, emus, cassowaries and kiwis

Songbirds and other perching birds

Compare crows and corvids side by side

Woodpeckers, toucans, kingfishers, hummingbirds and pigeons

Threatened birds in this guide (22)

Species listed as Vulnerable or worse, highest risk first. Figures are the typical adult values on each profile; a dash means no sourced figure.

Threatened bird species profiled in the Global Animal Guide
Animal Weight Length Top speed Lifespan Native to Status
Spix's Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii — — — 28 yrs South America Extinct in the Wild
African Penguin Spheniscus demersus 3.1 kg 45 cm — 18 yrs Africa, Oceans Critically Endangered
California Condor Gymnogyps californianus 10 kg 1.2 m 90 km/h 60 yrs North America Critically Endangered
Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis 510 g 53 cm — — North America Critically Endangered
Kakapo Strigops habroptilus 3 kg 60 cm 5 km/h 60 yrs Oceania Critically Endangered
Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi 5.2 kg — — 40 yrs Asia Critically Endangered
African Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus 400 g 33 cm 50 km/h 55 yrs Africa Endangered
Kea Nestor notabilis 900 g 48 cm 50 km/h 30 yrs Oceania Endangered
Secretary Bird Sagittarius serpentarius 4 kg 1.3 m 30 km/h 15 yrs Africa Endangered
South Island Takahe Porphyrio hochstetteri 3 kg 50 cm 10 km/h 20 yrs Oceania Endangered
Vulture Gyps fulvus 8 kg 1 m 55 km/h 25 yrs Africa, Asia, Europe Endangered
Whooping Crane Grus americana 7 kg 1.5 m 70 km/h 25 yrs North America Endangered
Andean Condor Vultur gryphus 12 kg 1.3 m 80 km/h 50 yrs South America Vulnerable
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica 400 g 28 cm 88 km/h 20 yrs North America, Europe, Oceans Vulnerable
Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja 4.8 kg 95 cm — 30 yrs North America, South America Vulnerable
Hyacinth Macaw Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus 1.5 kg 1 m 50 km/h 50 yrs South America Vulnerable
Kiwi Apteryx australis 2.5 kg 45 cm 20 km/h 25 yrs Oceania Vulnerable
Rhinoceros Hornbill Buceros rhinoceros 2.5 kg 1.2 m 35 km/h 35 yrs Asia Vulnerable
Shoebill Balaeniceps rex 5.5 kg 1.2 m 40 km/h 35 yrs Africa Vulnerable
Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus 2 kg 66 cm 80 km/h 10 yrs North America, Europe, Asia Vulnerable
Steller's Sea Eagle Haliaeetus pelagicus 7.8 kg 90 cm — — Asia Vulnerable
Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans 10 kg 1.3 m 80 km/h 50 yrs Antarctica, Oceania, Oceans, South America Vulnerable

Figures are typical adult maxima from each profile; follow a profile for ranges, sources and context.

Identify a bird

Regional guides to the birds you are most likely to see, plus calls and birds of prey.

Birds as pets

Budgerigars, cockatiels, canaries and lovebirds are the most widely kept pet birds. The top 10 pet bird breeds guide compares temperament, lifespan and care, and each species profile covers the wild bird behind the pet.

Birds: common questions

How many species of birds are there?

Version 15.2 of the IOC World Bird List recognises 11,064 living bird species in 44 orders and 250 families. About 60% of them (6,696) are perching birds, the order Passeriformes. Other checklists give slightly different totals because they split or lump some species differently.

What is the largest bird in the world?

The common ostrich. It can stand about 2.8 m tall and weigh up to 130 kg, and it lays the largest eggs of any living bird.

What is the fastest bird?

The peregrine falcon, in its hunting dive (stoop), when it has been measured at about 389 km/h. In level flight, swifts and some ducks are among the fastest birds.

Which birds cannot fly?

Ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas and kiwis (the ratites), all penguins, and a few island birds such as New Zealand's kākāpō and takahē. Penguins use their wings as flippers to 'fly' underwater instead.

Are birds dinosaurs?

Yes. Birds evolved from small feathered theropod dinosaurs, so scientists treat them as the one group of dinosaurs that survived the mass extinction 66 million years ago.

Sources

  • Gill, F., Donsker, D. & Rasmussen, P. (Eds). IOC World Bird List v15.2. Species, order and family totals counted from the list's master file as published in the open huashu-bird-sticker dataset (MIT licence; IOC data CC BY 3.0).
  • BirdLife International, BirdLife DataZone: IUCN Red List categories, population estimates and trends for the species added in November 2026, checked 1 November 2026.
  • Tobias, J. A. et al. (2022). AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. doi:10.1111/ele.13898. Average body masses.
  • Each species profile lists its own sources. See how photographs are credited on the image credits page.