Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,673 · Stories: 19,540

• Spike-heeled Lark Chersomanes albofasciata

  

  This lark has a long, slender, downcurved bill and a short tail with a white tip. It forages mostly on the ground in southern African grassland and scrub.

• American Marten Martes americana

  A member of the weasel family found in forests of Alaska, Canada and the northern United States.

• Blue-bearded Helmetcrest Oxypogon cyanolaemus

  The Blue-bearded Helmetcrest was recorded in the highlands of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. During a 2015 survey, observers saw it feeding at flowering plants.

• Island Mouse Nesomys rufus

  Nesomys rufus is a ground-dwelling rodent reported across humid forests of Madagascar. Its reddish back, white-spotted underside, and white tail tip help distinguish it.

• Tristram's Warbler Curruca deserticola

  A breeding-plumage male of the nominate subspecies is slate blue-grey with a rufous patch on the wing. It uses dry montane scrub; some birds move seasonally.

• Horsfield's Leaf-nosed Bat Hipposideros larvatus

  Horsfield's leaf-nosed bat is a medium-sized bat with relatively large ears and a complex noseleaf. It flies through forest understory and roosts in caves and buildings.

• Lattice-tailed Trogon Trogon clathratus

  This trogon lives in very wet mountain-slope forest in Costa Rica. Males are green and red, females are gray and brown, and the birds use the lower and middle forest levels.

• Collared Pika Ochotona (Pika) collaris

  The collared pika has a collar-like pattern from the nape to the shoulders. It uses rocky slopes and nearby meadows, gathering plants for winter.

• Ashy-throated Warbler Phylloscopus maculipennis

  The Ashy-throated Warbler has a yellow rump and underparts. It uses the canopy of high mountain forests and moves to lower elevations in winter in some areas.

• Kuhl's pipistrelle Pipistrellus kuhlii

  Kuhl's pipistrelle is a small bat found from the Mediterranean region through West Asia to South Asia. It also lives around farmland and towns, catching small insects in flight.

• Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher Terenotriccus erythrurus

  This small flycatcher ranges from tropical Mexico through Central America and northern South America to central Bolivia. The account describes it as often still in the lower levels of humid forest.

• Fat-tailed Dunnart Sminthopsis crassicaudata

  The fat-tailed dunnart is a small marsupial that stores fat in its tail. It searches for arthropods and small vertebrates at night.

• Crowned Lapwing Vanellus coronatus

  The Crowned Lapwing lives in open grasslands of eastern and southern Africa. Adults have a white ring around the black head and search the ground for ants, termites, and other insects.

• Gaumer's Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys gaumeri

  Gaumer's spiny pocket mouse is endemic to Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Records show it eating land snails as well as seeds.

• Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus

  An ibis whose adult head and neck have bare black skin, while most body feathers are white. It probes for food in shallows and rice fields.

• Texas Pocket Gopher Geomys personatus

  This rodent digs burrows in sandy soil in southern Texas and feeds underground on grass roots and other plants.

• Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala

  The summer male has a dark greenish-gray head and black lores and throat. It uses woodland and scrub in different seasons and moves between breeding and wintering areas, including within Japan.

• Common Genet Genetta genetta

  The common genet is a small African mammal with dark spots and a banded tail; it is active at night.

• Cape Batis Batis capensis

  This small bird differs in its chest and throat markings between the sexes. Pairs search for insects in forests and dense vegetation.

• Common Malacomys Malacomys longipes

  The Common Malacomys has long hind feet and a tail longer than its head and body. An identification key that includes records from Rwanda's forests summarizes it as often found near water.

• Green-backed Honeybird Prodotiscus zambesiae

  It is widespread across southern Africa, with isolated populations in Ethiopia and Kenya. Its back and wings are olive green, and it mainly eats insects found on twigs.

• Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat Artibeus (Artibeus) jamaicensis

  The Jamaican fruit-eating bat has pale facial stripes and a leaf-shaped noseleaf. It is active at night, eats fruit, and may fold leaves into a tent-like roost.

• Japanese Thrush Turdus cardis

  A thrush that visits mountain forests north of Kyushu; females have browner flanks.

• Central American Rufous Tree-rat Diplomys labilis

  An arboreal spiny rat recorded in Central America. It is active at night and uses tree cavities as resting places.