Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,038 · Stories: 19,488

• Malleefowl Leipoa ocellata

  

  Its head and neck are buff-gray, and its body is mottled brown, black, and white. For breeding, it builds a large mound that uses heat from rotting leaf litter to incubate its eggs.

• Yellow-tufted Woodpecker Melanerpes cruentatus

  

  The Yellow-tufted Woodpecker occurs in tropical South America. Its yellow head tuft and red belly stand out; in Bolivia it perches in forest canopies, often on dead branches or snags.

• Keel-billed toucan Ramphastos sulfuratus

  

  A toucan of Central America and nearby regions, with a black body, yellow throat and cheeks, and a large multicoloured bill.

• Red-faced Malkoha Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus

  

  The Red-faced Malkoha is a long-tailed cuckoo with a red face and green bill, native to Sri Lanka. It uses the forest canopy and dense undergrowth.

• Green Heron Butorides virescens

  

  This small heron waits motionless for fish in shallow water. It sometimes drops twigs or insects onto the water to lure fish.

• Warbling white-eye Zosterops japonicus

  

  A small yellow-green bird of Japanese woods and gardens. A white ring around the eye gives it its name.

• Wattled Broadbill Sarcophanops steerii

  The Wattled Broadbill is a resident bird of Mindanao and nearby Philippine islands. Males have a purplish back, rusty tail, pink underparts, and a pale blue wattle around the eye; females have white underparts.

• Spot-crowned Barbet Capito maculicoronatus

  A barbet of forests from Panama to northwestern Colombia. A Panama breeding study followed an adult pair as they excavated a cavity in a dead tree and raised nestlings.

• Urrao Antpitta Grallaria urraoensis

  This antpitta is known from the northern Western Andes of Colombia. It stays close to the ground in mountain forest, moving through dense bamboo and moss while searching the leaf litter for prey.

• Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus longirostris

  A black-and-white bird of Australia’s coast, the Pied Oystercatcher has a long red bill and legs and feeds on shellfish on beaches and mudflats.

• Tibetan Snowfinch Montifringilla adamsi

  White wings stand out on this high-altitude sparrow. It searches for food in meadows and pastures and may gather near people.

• Trinidad Motmot Momotus bahamensis

  This bird lives in Trinidad and Tobago. The regional guide records it in Trinidad's lowland evergreen forest and in Tobago's pastures and farms where trees remain.

• Exclamatory Paradise Whydah Vidua interjecta

  This brood-parasitic whydah ranges from Upper and Lower Guinea through northeastern Zaire, now northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Payne (1991) links its distribution with the Red-winged Pytilia (Pytilia phoenicoptera) and reports song phrases by a captive male that matched the host’s songs and calls.

• Southern Shrikebill Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides

  The Southern Shrikebill occurs in New Caledonia and Vanuatu, using moist tropical forest, including heavily altered forest. It searches vegetation and bushes for invertebrates.

• Amazon Kingfisher Chloroceryle amazona

  The Amazon Kingfisher has a green head and back and a long bill. It dives from a waterside perch to catch fish.

• MacGregor's Bowerbird Amblyornis macgregoriae

  The male MacGregor's Bowerbird has a conspicuous orange head plume. He builds and decorates a bower of sticks to court females. The species lives in mountain forests of central and eastern New Guinea.

• Rufous-fronted Prinia Prinia buchanani

  The Rufous-fronted Prinia is a small bird of dry grassland and scrub. A 2005 field note from Dive Ghat in Maharashtra, western India, recorded birds singing from low bushes.

• Gilded Hummingbird Hylocharis chrysura

  This hummingbird ranges across southern South America. Its plumage shines golden green and its tail is bronze. It takes nectar as well as insects and small spiders.

• Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita

  The Chatham Albatross breeds on rocky islands in the Chatham Islands. Adults have a dark grey head and a white body.

• Red-tailed Bristlebill Bleda syndactylus

  This bulbul was described in field notes for the Upper Guinea forest zone. It has olive-brown upperparts, sulfur-yellow underparts and a rufous tail, and may be seen near columns of ants.

• Black Boubou Laniarius nigerrimus

  A study of the Black Boubou distinguished the all-black birds of bushy savanna in northern Kenya and southern Somalia as Laniarius nigerrimus. Species accounts describe it as resident, active by day, and mainly an invertebrate eater.

• Rusty-collared Seedeater Sporophila collaris

  The Rusty-collared Seedeater lives in wet grasslands and marshes of southern South America. Males have a rusty collar.

• Short-tailed Antthrush Chamaeza campanisona

  A Short-tailed Antthrush of Bolivia’s humid montane forests. It searches for food on the forest floor by turning leaves with its bill.

• Black-throated Sparrow Amphispiza bilineata

  Two white lines frame the gray face of this North American sparrow, and a black triangular throat patch stands out. It searches for insects or seeds on the ground in dry scrub, with its diet changing by season.