Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,584 · Stories: 19,526

• Kofiau Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera ellioti

  

  This kingfisher is restricted to Kofiau Island in Indonesia. Its blue head, white body, and long central tail feathers are striking. Little is known about its ecology, and its feeding behavior is presented as probable.

• Yellow-breasted Bowerbird Chlamydera lauterbachi

  

  The Yellow-breasted Bowerbird lives in eastern and central New Guinea, where males build an avenue-shaped bower and decorate it with blue fruit and stones to court females.

• Karoo Eremomela Eremomela gregalis

  

  The Karoo Eremomela has a grey cap, green back, white belly, and yellow vent. It uses scrub on rocky ridges and Karoo plains, often in pairs or small flocks, feeding low down or on the ground. Its range is centred on the Karoo.

• Tufted Coquette Lophornis ornatus

  

  This tiny hummingbird has a rufous crest and neck plumes in males; females lack both. It feeds on nectar and small invertebrates in forest edges, open country, gardens, and cultivation.

• Southern Royal Albatross Diomedea epomophora

  

  The Southern Royal Albatross is a large seabird with a white body and broad wings. It breeds on islands in the Southern Hemisphere and travels over the open ocean.

• Ochraceous Bulbul Alophoixus ochraceus

  

  A white throat and wispy crest identify this bulbul. It searches among branches and leaves in lowland and foothill forest.

• Papyrus Gonolek Laniarius mufumbiri

  This bush-shrike lives in East African papyrus wetlands. Adults have black upperparts, a yellow crown, a white wing bar, and orange-red underparts.

• Peg-billed Finch Acanthidops bairdi

  This finch lives in volcanic highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. Its long upturned bill is distinctive, and it feeds on insects, seeds, and fruit in mountain forest and bamboo.

• Sao Francisco Sparrow Arremon franciscanus

  This sparrow inhabits dry forest and gallery forest in central Brazil. It often forages as a pair in the lower vegetation and on the ground.

• Virginia's Warbler Leiothlypis virginiae

  This small gray warbler has yellow on the chest and undertail. It searches among trees and shrubs in open pinyon-pine and oak woodland in the Southwest.

• Palawan Flowerpecker Prionochilus plateni

  This small bird occurs on islands in the western Philippines. Males and females differ in color, and throat and breast colors also vary between island subspecies.

• Isabelline Shrike Lanius isabellinus

  The Isabelline Shrike breeds in Mongolia and nearby parts of Central Asia, then winters on the Arabian Peninsula and in northeastern Africa. It hunts from shrubs in dry open country and may impale spare prey on thorns for later.

• Grauer's Warbler Graueria vittata

  It is greenish olive, with pale barring on the face and underparts. It occurs in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, southwestern Uganda and western Rwanda, where it feeds on insects in dense montane forest.

• Collared Puffbird Bucco capensis

  A forest bird with a cinnamon head, large bill, and a black collar across the neck and chest, it waits to ambush sizable prey.

• Ahanta Francolin Pternistis ahantensis

  The Ahanta Francolin is a ground-dwelling bird of forest edges, regrowth, and streamside thickets in West Africa. Its chestnut plumage is patterned.

• Garnet Pitta Erythropitta granatina

  The Garnet Pitta is a small pitta marked with red, blue, and black. It searches for small prey around leaf litter and damp soil.

• Sao Tome Shorttail Amaurocichla bocagii

  This small bird occurs only on São Tomé Island. The IUCN assessment describes forested river valleys as its main habitat and notes some records in montane areas.

• African Pygmy Goose Nettapus auritus

  The African Pygmy Goose is a perching duck despite its name. A male has a white face, green markings, and a bright yellow bill.

• Little Gull Hydrocoloeus minutus

  The world's smallest gull. In breeding plumage it has a black head and dark underwings; it flies low over water to catch insects and small fish.

• Crested Spinetail Cranioleuca subcristata

  The Crested Spinetail is an ovenbird of forests in northern South America. It has a brownish face, a white eyebrow, and a slight crest, and it feeds mainly on arthropods.

• White-backed Thrush Turdus kessleri

  This thrush breeds in the eastern and northeastern Tibetan Plateau of China. Males show black and chestnut markings, and winter records in the Himalayas are vagrants.

• Black-billed Peppershrike Cyclarhis nigrirostris

  It has a large head and a thick, hooked black bill. Its crown, cheeks, and back are olive, while its belly is white. A forest guide from Colombia records birds hopping from mid-level forest to high outer branches for food, alone or in pairs and sometimes in mixed flocks. The guide lists Colombia and Ecuador for its range.

• Collared Forest Falcon Micrastur semitorquatus

  This raptor ambushes prey from cover in forest. Its dark head and back contrast with a pale belly and black-and-white tail.

• Malabar Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros coronatus

  The Malabar Pied Hornbill has a black body, white belly, and white wing edges. The male's large pale bill and casque stand out.