Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,584 · Stories: 19,526

• Violet Wood Hoopoe Phoeniculus damarensis

  

  This bird searches trees along dry rivers for insects and small geckos. A Namibian subspecies has coppery and violet iridescence on its mantle feathers.

• Turuchan Pika Ochotona (Pika) turuchanensis

  

  The Turuchan Pika eats plants and gathers them into stores. Research describes its coat and feeding choices, while taxonomists continue to debate whether it should be treated as a separate species.

• Brown Booby Sula leucogaster

  

  A large seabird of tropical oceans around the world. Adults have a brown back and white belly; they dive for fish and squid and breed in colonies on islands.

• Woodland Jumping Mouse Napaeozapus insignis

  

  A small jumping mouse of northeastern North American forests. It is mostly active at night and spends a long part of winter hibernating.

• Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys

  

  The Willie Wagtail has a white eyebrow and chest, a black head and back, and a long tail. It wags its tail while searching for insects on the ground or in grassland.

• Swamp Antechinus Antechinus minimus

  

  The swamp antechinus is a small marsupial of wet grasslands and scrub on Tasmania and islands in Bass Strait. It is most active around dusk.

• Bronzed Drongo Dicrurus aeneus

  A drongo of forests across South and Southeast Asia. Its black plumage has a bronze sheen, and its tail is forked.

• Gray Dwarf Hamster Cricetulus migratorius

  The HMW account under Cricetulus migratorius describes a dark gray-brown to sandy-gray back, white to grayish-white underside, and short whitish tail. The Mongolia account records it in dry hills and mountains, oases and valleys with shrubs and herbs; it gathers plant material and stores food near its burrow.

• Brown-capped Whitestart Myioborus brunniceps

  The Brown-capped Whitestart is an Andean bird with a rufous crown and yellow underparts. It ranges from Bolivia to northwestern Argentina.

• Plains Spotted Skunk Spilogale interrupta

  In Texas, this small, striped skunk is mostly nocturnal and may stand on its forelegs to warn a threat.

• Christmas Frigatebird Fregata andrewsi

  The Christmas Frigatebird is a large seabird that breeds on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. During the breeding season, the male inflates a red throat pouch.

• Rusty-spotted Cat Prionailurus rubiginosus

  A small wild cat recorded in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

• Rock Pratincole Glareola nuchalis

  The Rock Pratincole is a small, dark bird with white rump and underwing markings. It breeds by fast, rocky rivers; the southern African population moves seasonally.

• Pousargues' mongoose Dologale dybowskii

  This small mongoose has a brown body, a gray face, and a bushy tail. It has been recorded in Central Africa, but little is known about its life in the wild.

• Yellow-legged Flyrobin Microeca griseoceps

  The Yellow-legged Flyrobin is recorded in New Guinea’s mid-montane rainforest and on Australia’s Cape York Peninsula. The Birds Queensland account uses the name Kempiella griseoceps, while the pool lists Microeca griseoceps.

• Long-tailed Bat Chalinolobus tuberculatus

  A small bat of New Zealand. At dusk it flies along forest edges and catches insects.

• Dalmatian pelican Pelecanus crispus

  A pelican with a large bill pouch that feeds on fish in lakes and wetlands.

• Brown Palm Civet Paradoxurus jerdoni

  Jerdon's palm civet is a nocturnal civet of the Western Ghats rainforests in India. It lacks distinct facial markings and feeds mainly on fruit.

• Long-billed Crombec Sylvietta rufescens

  This small, round-bodied bird has a very short tail and a slightly curved, relatively long bill. Its back is grey-brown, while the belly and flanks are cinnamon-buff.

• Large Tree Shrew Tupaia tana

  The large tree shrew lives in forests on Borneo. It searches mainly for invertebrates on the forest floor and digs into the soil with its claws.

• Grey-and-buff Woodpecker Hemicircus concretus

  This small woodpecker searches among branches and leaves for invertebrates in humid forests.

• Geoffroy's Trident Leaf-nosed Bat Asellia tridens

  This bat has a short muzzle and a noseleaf with three rear projections. It inhabits desert and semidesert from North Africa through the Middle East, often near oases and dry riverbeds, and catches insects in flight.

• Visayan Broadbill Sarcophanops samarensis

  The Visayan Broadbill stands out for the blue fleshy skin around its eyes and its purple crown. It lives in lowland forest in the central Philippines and is reported to eat insects.

• Southern Giant Pouched Rat Cricetomys ansorgei

  The Southern Giant Pouched Rat is a large rodent that carries food in its cheek pouches. It often lives alone in a burrow and may store food there.