Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,025 · Stories: 19,293

• Sand Martin Riparia riparia

  

  A small martin with a grey-brown back, pale underside, and dark chest band. In Britain it arrives from Africa in spring to breed, digging nest burrows in sandy banks near water.

• Pale-bellied Tapaculo Scytalopus griseicollis

  

  A 2019 Bogotá bird guide describes an 11 cm bird with mostly gray plumage, a lighter throat and belly, soft rufous color at the rear, a black bill, and grayish legs. Most of its range is in Colombia, with a small part in Venezuela.

• Cinereous Mourner Laniocera hypopyrra

  

  This mourner occurs in Amazonian lowland forest and elsewhere. A nest was reported in mature floodplain forest in Peru, and a Brazilian study documented a distinctive juvenile plumage.

• Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus

  

  A long-necked waterbird known for its showy breeding feathers.

• Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax

  

  A glossy black crow with a long, curved red bill and red legs. In Britain it occurs along western coasts, around cliffs and coastal grassland.

• Fan-tailed Berrypecker Melanocharis versteri

  

  This bird lives in New Guinea’s mountains. Males have white pectoral tufts, females are olive-colored, and the species eats small berries and arthropods.

• Great tit Parus major

  A small bird with green and yellow body plumage and a glossy black head. In Britain it is familiar in gardens as well as woodland.

• Red-browed Finch Neochmia temporalis

  The Red-browed Finch lives in eastern Australia, in grassy areas and along creeks. Small flocks search for grass seeds and insects, and the bright red eyebrow, rump, and bill are distinctive.

• Short-tailed Swift Chaetura brachyura

  The Short-tailed Swift has broad wings, an extremely short tail, and a pale beige rump. In the Brazilian Amazon, it catches insects while flying.

• Eurasian Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

  Whimbrels in northern Australia are migratory waders that probe mudflats with their long bills.

• Pacific Diver Gavia pacifica

  The Pacific Diver breeds on Arctic lakes and moves to Pacific coastal waters for winter; it is an accomplished diver.

• Usambara Hyliota Hyliota usambara

  The Usambara Hyliota has a blue-black back and a white wing patch. A 1999 survey recorded it singly or in pairs, usually in the canopy of mature trees at forest edges in Tanzania’s East Usambaras. That paper used the older subspecies name Hyliota (australis) usambarae and said its status as a separate species was unresolved at the time.

• Common Buzzard Buteo buteo

  In the UK, Common Buzzards circle on broad wings and search woods and open countryside for small prey.

• Red-headed Myzomela Myzomela erythrocephala

  Adult males have a red face and rump, while females have only faint red on the face. The species is mainly found in coastal mangroves, where it feeds on nectar.

• Western Bristlebird Dasyornis longirostris

  A secretive small bird of heathland in southwestern Australia. It searches for small foods while moving on the ground.

• Grey heron Ardea cinerea

  A large heron that waits in shallow water to catch fish and other prey. In flight it draws its long neck back toward the body.

• Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus

  A white seabird with a red bill; adults have conspicuously long tail streamers.

• Southern Brown Kiwi (Tokoeka) Apteryx australis

  Tokoeka cannot fly and probes leaf litter with its long bill to find small animals.

• Wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo

  A large bird native to North America. Wild males have dark iridescent plumage; females are smaller and duller.

• Great Jacamar Jacamerops aureus

  The Great Jacamar is notable for glossy green plumage and a rufous belly. In Peruvian Amazonian forests it searches for prey from the middle to upper layers of the forest.

• Somali Ostrich Struthio molybdophanes

  Male Somali Ostriches have blue-grey necks and legs, while females have dull pinkish necks and legs. They use dry habitats such as grassland and thorn scrub and may occur in small groups.

• Common Pochard Aythya ferina

  The breeding male is a diving duck with a striking reddish-brown head.

• Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher Polioptila lactea

  The Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher occurs in southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina. It moves its tail in the trees and fans it when excited, showing a strong black-and-white contrast.

• Craveri's Murrelet Synthliboramphus craveri

  Craveri's Murrelet is a small seabird that nests on islands off western Mexico; some wander north to California's offshore waters in late summer.