Meet the world’s animals.
Photos: 12,813 · Stories: 19,540
- Purple-backed Thornbill Ramphomicron microrhynchum
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0 This small hummingbird uses the canopy and subcanopy of Andean forests. Male and female plumage and tail shape differ.
- African Pygmy Kingfisher Ispidina picta
The African Pygmy Kingfisher is a small kingfisher widespread south of the Sahara. It eats insects more often than fish and searches for prey from a perch.
- Least Auklet Aethia pusilla
The Least Auklet is a very small seabird that breeds on islands in the Bering Sea and Alaska. It nests in rock crevices and eats small animals from the sea.
- Black-throated Wren Pheugopedius atrogularis
The Black-throated Wren is a resident of lowlands and foothills in Costa Rica. Adults have a black face, throat, and chest, with chestnut-brown upperparts.
- Apo Myna Goodfellowia miranda
The Apo Myna is a mountain bird of Mindanao, notable for its crest and bare yellow skin around the eyes.
- Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia
This plover occurs along coasts from the southern United States to South America. It searches beaches and tidal flats for crabs and other prey.
- Orange-bellied Flowerpecker Dicaeum trigonostigma
This flowerpecker lives in forests across South and Southeast Asia. Males and females have different plumage, and the bird mainly eats fruit, with occasional insects.
- Mongolian Lark Melanocorypha mongolica
This lark breeds in Mongolia and northern China, and moves as far as central China in winter.
- Eastern Grey Plantain-eater Crinifer zonurus
The Eastern Grey Plantain-eater is a large gray bird with finely patterned plumage. It lives in open African woodland and grassland and mainly eats fruit.
- Chestnut-bellied Guan Penelope ochrogaster
This large guan is about 67–75 cm long and feeds on fruit in Brazilian forests. A field paper describes three separated populations that remain in different parts of central Brazil.
- Indian peafowl Pavo cristatus
A bird native to India and Sri Lanka whose males spread a long train like a fan.
- White-throated Bee-eater Merops albicollis
A bee-eater with a white throat and black-and-white striped head. It breeds along the southern edge of the Sahara and moves to humid forests in western and central Africa after breeding.
- Arfak Robin Heteromyias albispecularis
The Arfak Robin lives in mountain forests of northwestern New Guinea. Its ash-grey head and white cheeks and throat stand out, and it mainly eats insects.
- Sharp-tailed Grass Tyrant Culicivora caudacuta
This small tyrant flycatcher lives in the grasslands of the Cerrado, Pampa, and Chaco in South America.
- Puna Teal Spatula puna
This small duck has a black cap extending below the eyes and a pale blue bill. It eats aquatic plant seeds and insects in high-Andean lakes and wetlands.
- Black-billed Barbet Lybius guifsobalito
Red forehead, face and throat stand out against this barbet’s black plumage. It lives in fairly dry, open woodland in eastern and central Africa and eats fruit and insects.
- Cinnamon-rumped Trogon Harpactes orrhophaeus
The male has a black head and cinnamon back, while the female has a brown-toned head and pale underparts. This trogon uses forest understory and feeds mainly on insects.
- Dot-winged Crake Laterallus spiloptera
The Dot-winged Crake is a small rail of wetlands and flooded grasslands in southeastern South America. It hides in dense vegetation and is active around dusk and at night.
- White-chested Puffbird Malacoptila fusca
This puffbird inhabits lowland evergreen forest in northwestern Amazonia and nearby regions. Its streaked plumage, small white collar, and orange bill base stand out; it feeds on spiders and caterpillars in the understory.
- Orange-fronted Fruit Dove Ptilinopus aurantiifrons
The Orange-fronted Fruit Dove lives in lowlands near the coast of New Guinea. It has a large orange patch on the forehead and a grey collar, and mainly eats fruit.
- Styan's Grasshopper Warbler Locustella pleskei
The sexes look alike, with olive-brown upperparts, grayish-white underparts, and a rounded tail. It breeds on islands near Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East, then winters farther south.
- Stripe-breasted Tit Melaniparus fasciiventer
A large tit of the Albertine Rift's montane forests. Males have a black head and central belly, with a conspicuous white band across the lower breast and flanks.
- Kadavu Fantail Rhipidura personata
The Kadavu Fantail lives only on Kadavu Island in Fiji. A black crescent and inverted V across the chest, plus narrow white edges on the black outer tail feathers, help identify it. It moves actively along forest streams while catching insects.
- Western Reef Heron Egretta gularis
Western Reef Herons occur in pale and dark plumage forms; the dark form is marked by a white throat. They hunt along coasts and estuaries.