Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus

  

  The Black-necked Stork has a glossy black head and neck, a white body and long legs. It waits to ambush prey in shallow water.

• Honduran White Bat Ectophylla alba

  This small bat's fur ranges from gray to white. It has a yellow leaf-shaped nose and spends the day in a shelter made from a folded leaf.

• Andaman Barn Owl Tyto deroepstorffi

  A barn owl endemic to the Andaman Islands. It is nocturnal, and a 2013 field paper recorded an individual roosting in a cave on an island in Middle Andaman.

• Smoky Pseudomys Pseudomys fumeus

  The smoky mouse lives in isolated populations in southeastern mainland Australia. Its dark grey fur and long pink tail are easy to distinguish.

• Polynesian Starling Aplonis tabuensis

  The Polynesian Starling is a starling found widely across South Pacific islands. In Niue, it moves in family-like groups and searches branches and trunks for insects and fruit.

• Durango Chipmunk Tamias (Neotamias) durangae

  A chipmunk of the Sierra Madre Occidental in western Mexico. It inhabits mountain forests containing pine, oak, and juniper.

• 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.

• Cerrado Red-nosed Mouse Wiedomys cerradensis

  This rodent occurs in the semiarid zone of northeastern Brazil. The 2017 HMW 7 account reported a few scattered localities; it has a grizzled brown back, orange rump, eye-rings, muzzle, ears, and upper feet, and a white underside.

• Purus Jacamar Galbalcyrhynchus purusianus

  Centered in southeastern Peru, this jacamar also occurs in the lowland Amazon of Brazil and Bolivia. It launches from waterside or forest-edge perches to catch flying insects.

• Angolan Soft-furred Fruit Bat Lissonycteris angolensis

  Surveys around Mount Cameroon captured this fruit bat near fruiting trees, cultivated land and cave entrances. The current MDD species page uses the name Myonycteris angolensis.

• Scarlet-collared Flowerpecker Dicaeum retrocinctum

  A flowerpecker distributed in the Philippines. The account’s photograph is from near Sablayan on Mindoro.

• Kuban Tur Capra caucasica

  The Kuban tur is a wild goat of the western Caucasus. Above the forest belt, it uses alpine meadows and rocky slopes.

• Grey-backed Sparrow-Lark Eremopterix verticalis

  The Grey-backed Sparrow-Lark uses open, sparsely grassed ground, including sandy and gravel plains. Its black head and neck contrast with large white ear patches.

• Hovel's Myotis Myotis (Myotis) hoveli

  This account follows the southern Levantine lineage treated as Myotis hoveli sensu stricto in 2021.

• Schalow's Turaco Tauraco schalowi

  Schalow’s Turaco lives in forests of south-central Africa. It climbs and hops through the canopy and eats fruit, especially figs.

• Sun-tailed Monkey Allochrocebus solatus

  The sun-tailed monkey lives only in the forests of central Gabon. It uses both the ground and trees and is associated with dense forest undergrowth.

• Rusty-margined Guan Penelope superciliaris

  The Rusty-margined Guan lives in South American forests and scrub. In the Paraná forest of Argentina, pale feather edges make the adult breast look scaled.

• Heller's Broad-nosed Bat Platyrrhinus helleri

  This broad-nosed bat is recorded from Mexico through Central America to northern South America west of the Andes. A 2010 revision separated species from the older broad P. helleri complex.

• Orange River Francolin Scleroptila gutturalis

  The Orange River Francolin is a ground-dwelling bird of dry grassland in southern Africa. It has a striking black-and-white pattern from the sides of the neck toward the throat, and the sexes have similar plumage.

• Common Water Rat Hydromys chrysogaster

  The common water rat is a large rodent adapted to life near water. It has webbed feet and a thick tail with a white tip.

• Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater Merops oreobates

  The Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater occurs in open places in East African highlands and forests. Adults are about 21 cm long and catch insects in flight.

• Long-tailed Ground Squirrel Urocitellus undulatus

  The long-tailed ground squirrel is a medium-sized, ground-dwelling squirrel of Central Asia. A Mongolian study found several genetically distinct regional groups.

• Black Robin Petroica traversi

  Endemic to the Chatham Islands, the Black Robin is black in both sexes and active in the lower forest strata. It relies on continuous forest interior and is reluctant to venture into open areas.

• Bryant's Woodrat Neotoma (Neotoma) bryanti

  Its range extends from coastal California to the southern tip of Baja California and includes islands. A California study recorded it on a boulder-strewn hill.