Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,025 · Stories: 19,293

• Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo

  

  A long-necked swimmer that dives to catch fish.

• Angola Batis Batis minulla

  

  This small batis occurs mainly in western Central Africa. Males have a black facial mask and breast band, while females have a rufous breast band; the species uses forest and woodland.

• Snowy Sheathbill Chionis albus

  

  A Signy Island study from April 1961 to April 1962 described adults as white with pink skin below the eye. There, the birds fed on shore algae and limpets and also foraged near penguin colonies.

• Osprey Pandion haliaetus

  

  A fish-catching raptor with a white head crossed by a dark eye stripe. On Hachijojima it is seen near the coast in winter.

• Black-capped Donacobius Donacobius atricapilla

  

  This waterside bird has a black head and back and a long tail with white tips. A Peru-focused species account describes pairs and family groups defending territories along lowland Amazon lakes and rivers.

• Red-ruffed Fruitcrow Pyroderus scutatus

  

  This large cotinga inhabits humid montane forest on the eastern Andean slope. The Peruvian account describes it moving alone in the canopy.

• Eurasian wren Troglodytes troglodytes

  A tiny brown bird with a loud, extended song. In Japan it breeds in habitats such as woodland beside mountain streams.

• American Barn Owl Tyto furcata

  The American Barn Owl occurs across the Americas. It flies over open ground at night, searching for small mammals.

• Papuan Sittella Daphoenositta papuensis

  The Papuan Sittella occurs on New Guinea, where species accounts record it in forest and semi-open habitats. It feeds on invertebrates.

• Barn swallow Hirundo rustica

  A bird with a long, deeply forked tail that catches insects in flight. It nests under building eaves and bridges as well as in other sheltered places.

• Toucan Barbet Semnornis ramphastinus

  The Toucan Barbet is stout and medium-sized. Males have a glossy black nuchal tuft that females lack. It occurs in the mountains of southwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador and mainly eats fruit. At the study site, territorial groups bred in tree cavities.

• Greater rhea Rhea americana

  A flightless South American bird with a long neck, long legs and gray-brown feathers.

• Short-eared owl Asio flammeus

  An owl with yellow eyes and mottled brown plumage, seen hunting over grasslands and wetlands in Britain.

• Spotted Buttonquail Turnix ocellatus

  It has been recorded in Philippine grasslands, scrub, ravine edges, bamboo-forest edges, and gardens. It is secretive and stays under ground cover.

• King Vulture Sarcoramphus papa

  The King Vulture is a large scavenger of tropical lowland forests in Central and South America. It may wait for other birds to open a carcass.

• 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.

• Northern Screamer Chauna chavaria

  A large wetland bird of northern Colombia and eastern Venezuela. Its gray body, black neck and white band around the head stand out.

• Lesser Jacana Microparra capensis

  The Lesser Jacana is a small jacana of shallow freshwater wetlands with grasses and sedges. It may move as water levels change.

• Eurasian coot Fulica atra

  A swimming waterbird of lakes and ponds with a conspicuous white forehead.

• Black Guineafowl Agelastes niger

  The Black Guineafowl is a ground-dwelling bird of forests in western and central Africa. It has black plumage and a bare red head, and occurs in small groups.

• Buffy Laughingthrush Pterorhinus berthemyi

  The Buffy Laughingthrush occurs in southeastern China, where it uses broadleaf evergreen and bamboo forests as well as plantations. Its head to breast is ochre-brown, with black lores and chin and blue bare skin around the eyes.

• European Bee-eater Merops apiaster

  A colorful bird with a chestnut head, yellow throat, and blue-green belly. It catches insects in flight.

• White-fronted Plover Charadrius marginatus

  This plover occurs mainly along African coasts from Somalia to South Africa, also using sandy shores of inland rivers and lakes.

• Mountain Tailorbird Phyllergates cucullatus

  A rufous crown, white eyebrow, dark eye-stripe, gray face and breast, and yellow belly make this small bird recognizable.