Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• Blue Malkoha Ceuthmochares aereus

  

  This African cuckoo stands out for its heavy yellow bill and greenish-blue back and tail. It searches the forest for insects and small animals.

• White-bellied Akodont Akodon (Akodon) albiventer

  The white-bellied akodont is a small rodent of the Andean highlands. Its grizzled-grey back contrasts with a white belly, and most records come from 3,000–4,500 m.

• Sacred Kingfisher Todiramphus sanctus

  The Sacred Kingfisher lives in Australian forests and wooded edges. Many birds that breed in the south move north for winter.

• Alpine marmot Marmota (Marmota) marmota

  An alpine marmot that eats grasses and roots in summer, then spends the long winter underground with its family.

• Mombasa Woodpecker Campethera mombassica

  The Mombasa Woodpecker lives in coastal forests of East Africa. It searches among trunks and leafy branches, feeding mainly on ants and their larvae.

• Straw-colored Colilargo Oligoryzomys stramineus

  The Straw-colored Colilargo is a Brazilian rodent with pale dorsal fur sharply set off from its whitish underside. In the Cerrado it is chiefly reported from gallery forests.

• Brown-rumped Tapaculo Scytalopus latebricola

  This small tapaculo occurs in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northeastern Colombia. It moves on the ground near leaf litter in dense understory of humid montane forest.

• Arctic Ground Squirrel Urocitellus parryii

  The Arctic ground squirrel lives in colonies in tundra and other northern habitats across Alaska, northern Canada and eastern Siberia, and overwinters underground.

• Chestnut-headed Tesia Cettia castaneocoronata

  The Chestnut-headed Tesia is a round, nearly tailless bird with a white eye-ring, chestnut head, and yellow throat. It searches for insects close to the ground.

• Gobi Altai Mountain Vole Alticola (Alticola) barakshin

  The Gobi Altai mountain vole has a brownish-gray back with a rusty tone and a pale belly. It occurs in mountain regions of southern Mongolia and nearby areas.

• Red-legged Cormorant Poikilocarbo gaimardi

  The Red-legged Cormorant is a coastal South American cormorant. A white neck patch, red legs, and yellow bill stand out. It occurs on the Pacific coast from Peru to Chile and along southernmost Argentina on the Atlantic.

• Mindanao Squirrel Sundasciurus (Aletesciurus) mindanensis

  This tree squirrel is centered on Mindanao. Its 1890 original description notes a dark-gray back and reddish areas around the nose and feet; later surveys also recorded specimens on nearby islands.

• Foothill Stipplethroat Epinecrophylla spodionota

  It forages in the upper understory of humid montane forest on the eastern Andes, often with mixed-species flocks. Records are from 700–1,500 m.

• 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.

• Vinous-breasted Myna Acridotheres leucocephalus

  This bird is native to Southeast Asia. Birds that escaped or were released from captivity have been recorded in towns and parks in central Israel.

• Damara Ground Squirrel Xerus (Geosciurus) princeps

  Geosciurus princeps is a ground squirrel recorded in western Namibia and southern Angola. It has a pale cinnamon back, a white underside and legs, and a white stripe along each side.

• Bushy-crested Hornbill Anorrhinus galeritus

  A hornbill that lives in groups in Southeast Asian forests. Fruit is its main food, but it also searches the canopy for insects and small animals.

• Blackish Grass Mouse Thaptomys nigrita

  The blackish grass mouse is a small rodent that uses tunnels beneath leaf litter. A survey in southern Brazil recorded it in deciduous forest with pitfall traps.

• Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna

  A coastal duck with a white body, a green-black head and a brown band across its chest.

• Taurus Ground Squirrel Spermophilus taurensis

  The Taurus ground squirrel is restricted to the Taurus Mountains of Turkey. It inhabits montane areas above 1,000 m and is active by day.

• Chestnut-capped Babbler Timalia pileata

  The Chestnut-capped Babbler is a small, skulking bird. A field study in southern West Bengal recorded it in grasslands along the Rupnarayan and Damodar rivers.

• Greater Wilfred's Mouse Wilfredomys oenax

  The greater Wilfred's mouse has long, soft fur, with orange on the nose, ears, and rump. A new record from Paraná, southern Brazil, includes captures in grassland and a photograph from riverine forest.

• Collared Laughingthrush Trochalopteron yersini

  This laughingthrush is listed in a Langbiang Biosphere Reserve guide for evergreen broadleaf forest. Its black hood, silvery-gray cheeks, and rusty chest and wings stand out.

• Prevost’s Squirrel Callosciurus prevostii

  Prevost’s squirrel is a diurnal, tree-dwelling squirrel whose main food is fruit. Its species account records it in lowland and secondary forest as well as plantations.