Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• Knysna Woodpecker Campethera notata

  

  This woodpecker is endemic to coastal South Africa. Its green back and wings have yellow marks, while the whitish underside has large black spots. It searches for ants in forest and dense scrub.

• Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis

  Male Shiny Cowbirds are glossy deep purple, while females are brown. They are brood parasites, laying eggs in other birds’ nests and leaving the hosts to raise the young.

• Line-fronted Canastero Asthenes urubambensis

  This ovenbird lives in the high Andes of Peru and western Bolivia. It forages in humid or semi-humid scrub and has a rufous-brown back with a streaked breast.

• Ceylon Spurfowl Galloperdix bicalcarata

  The Ceylon Spurfowl is a hard-to-see bird of Sri Lankan forests. Males and females have different plumage, and the female incubates the eggs in a ground nest.

• Blue Noddy Anous ceruleus

  The Blue Noddy is a small tern with bluish-gray plumage. It breeds on Pacific islands and forages in waters near land.

• Northern Hawk Owl Surnia ulula

  A long-tailed owl with a white face bordered in black. It lives in northern forests and hunts from treetops during the day.

• African Dwarf Kingfisher Ispidina lecontei

  The African Dwarf Kingfisher is described as the world's smallest kingfisher, with an orange forehead, rufous crown, and blue-violet back.

• Black-chested Sparrow Peucaea humeralis

  This sparrow is locally distributed in inland southwestern Mexico. It moves in pairs or small groups through dry scrub on slopes and in valleys.

• Ocellated Crake Rufirallus schomburgkii

  The Ocellated Crake hides in grassland and mixed grass-and-shrub habitat. In Peru, the Peru Aves account reports it from Pampas del Heath in the southeast.

• Streaked Barwing Actinodura souliei

  This barwing occurs in parts of China and Vietnam. Its crest is pointed, and the crown and ear-coverts are silver-gray and streaked. Markings and tail pattern differ between subspecies.

• White-gaped Honeyeater Stomiopera unicolor

  The White-gaped Honeyeater is recorded in northern Australia. A 1977 Northern Territory account says it is common in dense vegetation and mangroves in the far north, while farther south it is confined to waterside vegetation.

• Ferruginous Flycatcher Muscicapa ferruginea

  The Ferruginous Flycatcher has a gray head, orange-brown body, and pale ring around the eye. It perches at mid-height in montane forest openings, often near running water, and sallies out to catch insects.

• Jamaican Crow Corvus jamaicensis

  The Jamaican Crow has sooty grey-black plumage and a thick, heavy black bill. It gathers in small groups in forest trees and is also seen on farms, in gardens, and in towns.

• Olivaceous Siskin Spinus olivaceus

  A small finch with bright yellow areas, it lives in forests on the eastern slopes of the Andes. Males have a black hood.

• Miombo Wren-Warbler Calamonastes undosus

  This small bird occurs in savannas and miombo woodland in central and eastern Africa. It has a dark gray head, barred underparts, and orange eyes.

• Ovenbird Seiurus aurocapilla

  The Ovenbird has a spotted breast and bold black-and-orange crown stripes. It walks on the forest floor, searching among leaf litter for insects and other small prey.

• Biak Coucal Centropus chalybeus

  The Biak Coucal is a cuckoo found on Biak and Supiori, northwest of New Guinea. It is usually inconspicuous unless it calls.

• Green Avadavat Amandava formosa

  The Green Avadavat has a restricted range in India. A study at Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary found it more often in higher areas with greater grass and shrub cover.

• Collared Lory Vini solitaria

  This red-and-green parrot occurs in Fiji and has a short tail and purple-black crown. It feeds on flowers and fruit and nests in tree cavities.

• Pacific Emerald Dove Chalcophaps longirostris

  This dove ranges from the eastern Lesser Sundas through Australia and New Guinea to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It uses forest and mangroves and feeds mainly on fallen fruit and seeds on the ground.

• Long-tailed Honey Buzzard Henicopernis longicauda

  A long-tailed raptor of New Guinea. It can be seen circling slowly with wings spread above the forest canopy.

• Spectacled Spiderhunter Arachnothera flavigaster

  The Spectacled Spiderhunter is a large member of the sunbird family that uses forests and plantations in tropical Asia. It feeds on nectar, spiders, and insects.

• Puna Yellow Finch Sicalis lutea

  This finch is found in puna grassland and stony scrub of the high Andes. Both sexes are greenish yellow, while females average slightly duller.

• Dusky-chested Flycatcher Myiozetetes luteiventris

  This flycatcher has a patchy distribution in Amazonia. Peru Aves marks its adult photographs sex unknown; they show a gray head and yellow chest, whose olive streaks can be faint.