Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• Black-billed Turaco Tauraco schuettii

  

  This forest turaco has a black bill. A 2020 phylogenetic study treated the violet-backed T. schuettii and green-backed T. emini as separate species-level taxa.

• Four-striped Ground Squirrel Lariscus hosei

  The Four-striped Ground Squirrel has four black stripes on its back and orange underparts. It lives on Borneo and is active by day on the forest floor.

• Pacific Antwren Myrmotherula pacifica

  The Pacific Antwren is a small bird with different male and female plumage. It occurs on the Pacific side of Central America and north-western South America, using vine-rich forest.

• Pinyon Mouse Peromyscus truei

  The pinyon mouse has coat colors ranging from yellow-brown to dark gray above. It ranges from central Oregon to southern Mexico and is active at night, when it can climb well.

• Comoro Blue Vanga Cyanolanius comorensis

  The Comoro Blue Vanga is a blue bird of woodland in the Comoros. It was formerly grouped with the Madagascar Blue Vanga but is now a separate species. Its current status on Grand Comoro is uncertain.

• Southern Little Yellow Bat Rhogeessa io

  The southern little yellow bat is a small aerial insectivore. It has been recorded hunting flying insects along forest trails, in clearings, and over water, but the boundaries of this broadly defined taxon remain under review.

• Paramo Tapaculo Scytalopus opacus

  This small tapaculo ranges from the central Andes of Colombia to central Ecuador. A Colombian male specimen shows fine barring near the base of the tail, on the flanks and thighs. Recordings document songs and calls made of rapidly repeated short notes.

• Central Australian Rock Rat Zyzomys pedunculatus

  The central Australian rock rat lives among rocky sites in central Australia. Records describe a thick tail and a diet based mainly on seeds.

• Princess Stephanie's Astrapia Astrapia stephaniae

  Stephanie’s Astrapia is a bird-of-paradise of Papua New Guinea’s mountain forests. The male stands out for iridescent blue-green and copper-red plumage and a long tail.

• Ipanema Bat Pygoderma bilabiatum

  This small fruit-eating bat occurs in South America. It has no tail, brown tricolored fur, a short nose, and white patches on its shoulders. Local migration records are kept to the populations where they were documented.

• Bicolored Flowerpecker Dicaeum bicolor

  The Bicolored Flowerpecker is a small species endemic to the Philippines. The male has a black head and back with silvery-white underparts, and the species is found in forest canopy.

• Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus

  A sure-footed hoofed mammal of the steep Himalayan mountains.

• Whooper swan Cygnus cygnus

  A swan widely distributed in northern Eurasia. Adults have white plumage and bills with yellow bases and black tips.

• Milne-Edwards's Macaque Macaca thibetana

  Milne-Edwards's macaque lives in mountainous areas of central-eastern China. It can carry food in its cheek pouches and eat later in a safer place.

• Pygmy Lorikeet Charminetta wilhelminae

  The Pygmy Lorikeet is a small parrot of New Guinea's mountain forests. It feeds on nectar and pollen, often gathering in flowering tree canopies.

• Western Gray Squirrel Sciurus (Hesperosciurus) griseus

  The western gray squirrel has a gray back, pale underside and bushy tail. In Washington, it occurs in scattered pine and oak woodlands.

• Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus optatus

  The Oriental Cuckoo is a migratory cuckoo that breeds in forests. Females include both grey and rufous plumage forms.

• Roborovski hamster Phodopus roborovskii

  A small hamster of sandy habitats in Mongolia and northern China.

• Rose-throated Becard Pachyramphus aglaiae

  Males stand out with a dark, slaty body, a blackish cap, and usually a bright pink throat. They search for insects and small fruits in the canopy of tropical forests.

• Papillose Woolly Bat Kerivoula papillosa

  This bat has tiny projections on its wing membrane. It flies through the lower forest at night and catches flying insects.

• Streak-throated Barwing Actinodura waldeni

  This barwing lives in mossy forests of the eastern Himalayas. Its short tail and barred wings and tail are distinctive, while the color of the underparts varies among subspecies.

• Afroalpine Vlei Rat Otomys orestes

  The Afroalpine Vlei Rat occurs on Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Range in central Kenya. It has shaggy tawny-brown fur and creamy-buff patches behind the ears, and lives in open heath and grassland above the tree line.

• Rothschild's Grosbeak Cyanocompsa rothschildii

  Rothschild's Grosbeak occurs in western Amazonian forest. The male is deep blue and the female chestnut; both are associated with the leafy forest understory.

• Salvin's Big-eyed Bat Chiroderma salvini

  Salvin's big-eyed bat ranges from Central America into northwestern South America. It has pale stripes on the face and along the back.