Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,673 · Stories: 19,540

• Fire-breasted Flowerpecker Dicaeum ignipectus

  

  The Fire-breasted Flowerpecker is a small bird whose male has a scarlet chest patch and a fine black stripe down the belly. In Taiwan it is one of the birds described as dispersing mistletoe seeds.

• Bonin Petrel Pterodroma hypoleuca

  The Bonin Petrel is a seabird that catches fish and squid offshore. It breeds in winter and lays one egg in a sandy burrow.

• Azure-hooded Jay Cyanolyca cucullata

  This jay is marked by a bright blue crown and a white band. It lives in Central American cloud forests and moves through the canopy in small groups.

• Banded Barbet Lybius undatus

  The Banded Barbet has a red forehead and a black head and breast. It occurs in Eritrea and Ethiopia, feeds mainly on fruit—especially figs—and also catches flying insects.

• Elegant Pitta Pitta elegans

  The Elegant Pitta is notable for its blue rump and cinnamon-colored underparts. It occurs on islands from the Lesser Sundas to the Moluccas and eats beetles and small snails.

• Mariana Kingfisher Todiramphus albicilla

  The Mariana Kingfisher was recorded in a forest-bird survey on Tinian. A sample collected on Saipan is described as white-headed in a phylogenetic study.

• Cuban Trogon Priotelus temnurus

  This trogon is endemic to Cuba. Along with blue, white, and red plumage, its tail shifts through violet-blue, green, and golden-copper tones.

• Golden-fronted Greenlet Hylophilus aurantiifrons

  The Golden-fronted Greenlet occurs from Panama through northern South America to Trinidad and Tobago. It searches the undersides of leaves for insects and spiders. Detailed nest records in the account are from Trinidad only.

• South Georgia Shag Leucocarbo georgianus

  This seabird breeds around South Georgia. During a chick-rearing study on Bird Island, feeding trips involved diving, and males and females differed in the timing of their trips.

• Malagasy Sacred Ibis Threskiornis bernieri

  This ibis lives in western Madagascar and on Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles. Its pale blue-white eye is distinctive, and it probes tidal mud for crustaceans and other prey.

• Grey-crowned Negrofinch Nigrita canicapillus

  This small bird occurs in forests from western to eastern Africa. Its silvery-grey crown and back contrast with a black face and white spots on the upper wings.

• Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala

  The Black-headed Heron is a large heron with a black head and gray-and-white body. The sexes look alike, though some birds have little or no white on the front of the neck.

• Andean Emerald Uranomitra franciae

  This hummingbird occurs in Colombia's Andes, using montane forest and edges as well as flower-rich secondary growth and gardens.

• Sudan Golden Sparrow Passer luteus

  The Sudan Golden Sparrow is notable for the male's yellow head and underparts and chestnut back. Females are sandy brown. The species uses dry savanna and scrub, and forms flocks and nests in groups during the breeding period.

• Kloss's Leaf-warbler Phylloscopus ogilviegranti

  This leaf-warbler ranges from southern China through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. It is recorded in forest at 900–2,550 m during the breeding season.

• Karoo Long-billed Lark Certhilauda subcoronata

  The Karoo Long-billed Lark lives in dry shrubland in southern Africa. It searches the ground with its long, slightly decurved bill; plumage tone and streaking vary by region.

• Ultramarine Lorikeet Vini ultramarina

  The Ultramarine Lorikeet is a small parrot surviving in the Marquesas on Ua Huka. It moves through the forest canopy and feeds on flowers, fruit and other foods.

• Black-tailed Tityra Tityra cayana

  The Black-tailed Tityra is widespread in Amazonia; in Peru, the account records it up to about 700 m in the Andean foothills.

• Northern Fiscal Lanius humeralis

  A widespread African shrike that searches for prey from exposed perches in open country.

• Yellow-bellied Dacnis Dacnis flaviventer

  This dacnis occurs in Amazonian rainforest near rivers and in wetlands. Males have a yellow belly and red eye; females are olive-brown above.

• Caribbean Martin Progne dominicensis

  This swallow ranges in Mexico, Cuba, and the West Indies. The male has a sharp boundary between its blue-purple back and white belly, while the female and juvenile blend brown feathers into the white. It catches insects in flight near water.

• Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola

  The male’s bright yellow head and two white wing bars make this wagtail distinctive. A breeding study in Poland found that meadow management and nearby reedbeds were associated with nest-site choice.

• Rusty Pitohui Pseudorectes ferrugineus

  The Rusty Pitohui feeds on insects and fruit in forests around New Guinea. Its white eye and rufous tail help identify it.

• Sykes's Nightjar Caprimulgus mahrattensis

  This sand-gray nightjar blends into dry semi-desert. It is active from dusk into the night, rests on the ground by day, and catches insects close to the ground.