Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,636 · Stories: 19,540

• Rarotonga Monarch Pomarea dimidiata

  

  The Rarotonga Monarch’s native range is Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Its plumage changes with age; it uses wet forested valleys near stream headwaters and feeds on small insects.

• Channel Islands Gray Fox Urocyon littoralis

  

  This small fox lives only on six of the Channel Islands off California. Each island has its own distinct subspecies.

• Curl-crested Aracari Pteroglossus beauharnaesii

  

  This toucan is described from the canopy of Amazonian forest. Narrow black feathers on the crown and nape curl into a distinctive crest, and a red band crosses the middle of the belly. The account gives a range in Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia.

• Black Wallaroo Osphranter bernardus

  

  The black wallaroo is a kangaroo relative of Kakadu’s rocky Stone Country.

• Blue-masked Leafbird Chloropsis venusta

  

  The Blue-masked Leafbird is a small bird of humid montane forest in the foothills of Sumatra. Males show violet-blue and deep indigo markings, while females have bright blue markings on the face and throat.

• Abyssinian Hare Lepus habessinicus

  

  The Abyssinian hare lives in open parts of East Africa. Its coat differs somewhat between Somali and Ethiopian animals.

• Pied Stilt Himantopus leucocephalus

  The Pied Stilt walks through shallows on long legs, probing with a fine bill. h. leucocephalus in New Zealand.

• Lesser Leaf-nosed Bat Hipposideros turpis

  This leaf-nosed bat occurs on islands of the Yaeyama group. Its noseleaf lacks a central projection, and females raise their young in a separate cave after birth.

• Spectacled Weaver Ploceus ocularis

  This weaver occurs in wooded edges, riverside vegetation, and gardens across sub-Saharan Africa. It eats insects as well as fruit and nectar.

• Black Myotis Myotis (Pizonyx) nigricans

  This bat was studied at Paracou in French Guiana. Fur color and texture varied among specimens, and captures came from streamside forest, clearings, and above roadside puddles.

• Double-banded Plover Charadrius bicinctus

  This small plover occurs on New Zealand's beaches, estuaries and riverbeds. Its chestnut breast band changes with season, and many inland breeders move to the coast after breeding.

• Sand cat Felis margarita

  A desert cat with pale sandy fur, large ears, and fur-covered foot pads.

• Grey Sibia Heterophasia gracilis

  It occurs in hill regions of northeast India, Myanmar, and western Yunnan in China, using evergreen, deciduous, pine, and secondary forests.

• Northern Short-tailed Shrew Blarina brevicaudus

  This short-tailed shrew ranges from southern Canada into eastern and central parts of the United States. It is most numerous in damp woods and wetlands and makes runways close to the ground.

• Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa

  The Marbled Godwit probes mud and sand with its long upturned bill to find small aquatic animals. Its plumage changes between breeding and nonbreeding seasons.

• Himalayan Goral Naemorhedus goral

  A member of the bovid family native to the Himalayas. It uses forested and scrub-covered slopes and has gray-to-brown fur with short horns that curve backward.

• Legge's Flowerpecker Dicaeum vincens

  This small flowerpecker is endemic to Sri Lanka. It is common in wet lowland forest, moves through the treetops and descends to feed on nectar, fruit, berries, and seeds.

• Thomas's Nectar Bat Hsunycteris thomasi

  This small nectar bat is distinguished by the arrangement of skin papillae on its chin. It has been recorded from Panama across much of northern South America, although the current species may include unresolved lineages.

• Keel-billed Motmot Electron carinatum

  The Keel-billed Motmot is a Central American motmot with a keel-like ridge along the upper bill.

• Blond Capuchin Sapajus flavius

  This capuchin lives in remaining Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil. One group studied in a forest fragment in Paraíba ate fruit as well as sugarcane stalks and animal food.

• Cape Verde Shearwater Calonectris edwardsii

  An ocean-going shearwater that nests in burrows on islands. It is treated separately from Cory's Shearwater.

• Big Crested Mastiff Bat Promops centralis

  This mastiff bat of the Americas flies fast on long wings. It uses habitats from forests to open country and roosts in tree hollows or buildings.

• Brown Jay Cyanocorax morio

  A large, long-tailed jay with dark brown plumage and a pale belly. It often forages in groups; cooperative breeding is reported in Texas.

• Great Woolly Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus luctus

  Its long, woolly fur is dark gray-brown to black with pale tips. The Sunda Island populations treated as R. luctus in the 2019 account are recorded in tropical forest.