Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,824 · Stories: 19,540

• Yellow Bittern Botaurus sinensis

  

  A small heron that hides in reeds and freezes with its neck stretched when it senses danger.

• Ashy Tube-nosed Bat Murina feae

  This small bat is distributed in Cambodia, southern China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its soft gray coat is a useful field mark.

• Grey-sided Bush Warbler Cettia brunnifrons

  This small bird has a long pale stripe above the eye and a small bill. It lives in thick vegetation and searches near the ground for spiders and larvae.

• Utah Prairie Dog Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) parvidens

  The Utah prairie dog is a diurnal squirrel relative of southwestern Utah that forms colonies with extensive underground burrows.

• Elegant Quail Callipepla douglasii

  Males have a tawny crest and reddish wings. This quail lives in scrub and secondary vegetation in western Mexico, forming small flocks that break into pairs for breeding.

• Sandy Inland Pseudomys Pseudomys hermannsburgensis

  The sandy inland pseudomys is an Australian mouse that rests in a burrow by day and searches for seeds and small invertebrates at night. Its back ranges from pale ginger to gray-brown, and its tail is longer than its body.

• Little Rush Warbler Bradypterus baboecala

  The Little Rush Warbler lives in wetlands with reeds and sedges. The broad taxonomic treatment includes several subspecies, some of which are treated as separate species elsewhere.

• Northern Red-backed Vole Myodes rutilus

  This small vole occurs in northern Europe, Asia, and North America. Its back has a rusty-red cast, and it stores plant and fungal foods in nests for use during winter.

• Ivory-breasted Pitta Pitta maxima

  The Ivory-breasted Pitta lives in forests of the North Maluku Islands. Its dark upperparts contrast with blue-green wings and ivory underparts.

• Przewalski's Gazelle Procapra przewalskii

  Przewalski's gazelle lives along the grassland-desert transition in China. Its current range is limited to isolated populations around Qinghai Lake.

• Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus

  The Rainbow Bee-eater has vivid green, blue, and yellow plumage. It beats captured bees against a perch to remove their stings before eating them.

• Seminole Bat Lasiurus seminolus

  This bat has rich chestnut-brown fur with pale tips. It catches insects in flight at dusk and occurs mainly in the southeastern United States.

• Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus

  A stork with a large bill and little feathering on its head and neck. In Bangladesh it occurs around shallow wetlands, grassland and farmland.

• Richardson's Ground Squirrel Urocitellus richardsonii

  Richardson's Ground Squirrel is a ground-dwelling squirrel of the northern Great Plains. It digs underground burrows and hibernates through the cold season.

• White-cheeked Turaco Menelikornis leucotis

  The White-cheeked Turaco is a green turaco centered in the Ethiopian Highlands. Its rounded crest, white cheek patch, and crescent-shaped white neck mark are distinctive.

• Sand-colored Metad Millardia gleadowi

  This small rodent is reported from northwestern India. It is sand-brown above and white below, and the account describes it as nocturnal and burrow-dwelling.

• Blue-and-white Kingfisher Todiramphus diops

  The Blue-and-white Kingfisher occurs in the northern Moluccas. Males have blue wings and back with a white head and underparts; the account lists habitats from forests and streams to farmland and coasts.

• White-eared Cotton Rat Sigmodon (Sigmodon) leucotis

  The White-eared Cotton Rat was one of five cotton rats compared in a 1971 study. In the captive young studied, growth was rapid until about 40 days of age and then slowed.

• Dusky Grasswren Amytornis purnelli

  A small bird of central Australian rocky areas and gorges, it has rusty-brown plumage with fine white streaks and moves around rocks and spinifex clumps near the ground.

• Maxwell’s Duiker Philantomba maxwellii

  Maxwell’s duiker is a small antelope of West African forests and wooded patches in savannah. It stays close to cover and feeds on leaves and fruit.

• Ring-necked Dove Streptopelia capicola

  The Ring-necked Dove has a black half-collar on the back of its neck. It is often alone or in pairs but may form large flocks around food or water.

• Evening Bat Nycticeius humeralis

  The evening bat has dark brown to black fur and broad ears. It roosts in tree hollows and under loose bark, and sometimes uses buildings.

• Western Corella Cacatua pastinator

  This white cockatoo is native only to Western Australia. Its subspecies occupy different areas within the state.

• South African Ground Squirrel Xerus (Geosciurus) inauris

  This squirrel lives in the dry grasslands and savannas of southern Africa. It uses underground burrows and searches for food by day.