Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,584 · Stories: 19,526

• 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.

• 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.

• Hispaniolan Greater Funnel-eared Bat Natalus major

  

  This bat has yellowish or grayish fur and pointed-looking ear tips. It roosts in humid caves on Hispaniola and catches insects at night.

• Caracal Caracal caracal

  

  A cat of Africa and parts of Asia, recognized by its reddish-brown to brown coat and long black ear tufts.

• Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae

  

  An Australian bird with shaggy gray-brown feathers and long, powerful legs.

• Haitian solenodon Solenodon paradoxus

  

  The Haitian Solenodon is a nocturnal mammal that probes the forest floor with its long, mobile snout. It searches for insects and other small animals in Hispaniola’s forests.

• Eurasian teal Anas crecca

  A small duck seen on Japanese waters in winter. Breeding males have a chestnut head with a dark green band around the eye.

• Apricot-breasted Sunbird Cinnyris buettikoferi

  Males have dark metallic blue-violet patches on the throat and chest, including an orange chest patch. A Sumba survey recorded the species more often at forest edges than in forest interiors.

• Giant Otter Shrew Potamogale velox

  The giant otter shrew is a semi-aquatic mammal of central African rivers and swamps. It swims by moving its laterally flattened tail and forages near water from dusk into the night.

• Bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus

  A whale with a large head and a white chin, living in icy northern seas.

• Slate-colored Boubou Laniarius funebris

  The Slate-colored Boubou has dark grey plumage and a darker head. It inhabits dry scrub and riverine thickets, foraging on the ground and within dense vegetation for insects and other invertebrates.

• Least Sac-winged Bat Balantiopteryx io

  This small bat occurs in lowland areas from Mexico into Central America. It mainly roosts in caves, and males have a small pouch in the wing membrane.

• Little grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis

  A small waterbird of lakes, ponds and slow rivers. It dives for fish and other prey and raises young on nests that appear to float.

• American Pipit Anthus rubescens

  The American Pipit is a small bird that breeds in Arctic and alpine meadows. It walks quickly while feeding and uses open areas such as shores and fields in winter.

• African forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis

  The African forest elephant lives in dense tropical forests of western and central Africa.

• Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae

  A whale with long pectoral fins and distinctive markings on the underside of its tail.

• Celestial Monarch Hypothymis coelestis

  The male's blue plumage and drooping crest stand out on this Philippine monarch flycatcher. BirdLife's 2001 account describes it in forest canopy and midstory, at forest edges, and in second growth.

• Palawan Tree Shrew Tupaia palawanensis

  This treeshrew occurs around Palawan. Its ochre back has a dark central stripe, and its species-specific diet has not been studied.

• 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.

• Hamerkop Scopus umbretta

  The hamerkop is an African wetland bird whose flat crest makes its head look like a hammer. Pairs build a large, domed nest.

• Argentine Plains Viscacha Lagostomus maximus

  This large rodent is marked by a striking black-and-white face. It builds extensive communal burrow systems in grasslands and dry scrub.

• Blue wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus

  The blue wildebeest is a cattle relative living and grazing in herds in eastern and southern Africa.

• Sunda Warbler Seicercus grammiceps

  This leaf-warbler lives in montane forest on Java and Sumatra. It has a reddish-brown head and a pale eye-ring.

• Andean Tuco-tuco Ctenomys opimus

  The Andean tuco-tuco occurs in dry highland areas of the Andes. It has long, soft, pale-yellow fur and uses underground burrows.