Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,824 · Stories: 19,540

• Persian Shearwater Puffinus persicus

  

  The Persian Shearwater is a seabird with a dark upper surface set against a white underside. Breeding has been recorded in southern Arabia and around Socotra, while seasonal records have also been reported off East Africa.

• Great Rosefinch Carpodacus rubicilla

  A finch about 20 cm long, found in mountain regions from the Caucasus to Central Asia and seen in Georgia in winter.

• Chatham Islands Gerygone Gerygone albofrontata

  This small forest bird is endemic to the Chatham Islands. It gleans small invertebrates from leaves and crevices in branches and trunks, and sometimes feeds on the ground.

• Australian Bustard Ardeotis australis

  The Australian Bustard is a large bird of dry plains, grassland, and open woodland. It eats both plant and animal foods.

• Mauritius Kestrel Falco punctatus

  A small falcon found only in the forests of Mauritius.

• Southern White-crowned Shrike Eurocephalus anguitimens

  The Southern White-crowned Shrike lives in open acacia and riverine woodland in southern Africa. It searches the ground for invertebrates; a South African field report also describes small groups.

• 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.

• Daurian Starling Agropsar sturninus

  Males have glossy purplish upperparts that contrast with a pale head and underside. The species uses forest edges and open plantations, moving to Southeast Asia for winter.

• Yellow-bellied Tit Pardaliparus venustulus

  The Yellow-bellied Tit is a small tit that forms flocks in mountain forests. Males have black-and-white heads and yellow underparts; females are duller greenish grey.

• Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita

  A small yellow-olive warbler that eats insects. In Britain and Ireland it breeds in deciduous woodland, scrub, and similar habitats.

• Rufous-breasted Antpitta Grallaricula leymebambae

  A small antpitta of Andean forests. Its back is brown, with rufous coloring across the chest and sides.

• Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea

  The Indigo Bunting is a small bird that breeds in eastern North America and migrates toward Central America for winter. Breeding males are bright blue.

• Sao Tome Oriole Oriolus crassirostris

  The Sao Tome Oriole is endemic to São Tomé Island. Adults have a black head and throat and are seen alone or in pairs in the forest mid-storey.

• Two-banded Warbler Myiothlypis bivittata

  This small warbler inhabits humid montane forest on the eastern Andean slopes. It has olive and yellow plumage, a rufous-olive crown and narrow dark crown stripes. The Peru account places it at 750–1,500 m.

• Clicking Shrike-Babbler Pteruthius intermedius

  The Clicking Shrike-Babbler occurs in southern China and mainland Southeast Asia. The bird account treats Pteruthius intermedius separately; it was formerly included in Chestnut-fronted Shrike-Babbler.

• Australasian Bittern Botaurus poiciloptilus

  The Australasian Bittern is a large heron relative that hides among dense reeds and rushes. When alarmed, it points its neck and bill upward and freezes among the plants.

• Tanimbar Bush Warbler Horornis carolinae

  The 1987 original description called this bird Cettia carolinae and reported it from two sites in southern Yamdena. The author thought it might be widespread on the island, but the records available then were limited.

• Long-tailed Wood Partridge Dendrortyx macroura

  A quail of Mexico’s high-elevation forests, notable for its long tail and red bill and legs.

• Chaetornis striata

  This grassland bird often remains hidden in cover. A Kerala sighting describes a fulvous-brown back with bold streaks, while a study in Nepal recorded it in riverine grasslands.

• Blue-naped Pitta Hydrornis nipalensis

  A pitta with a reddish-brown head and body and a blue rump, living quietly in forest.

• Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater Merops oreobates

  The Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater occurs in open places in East African highlands and forests. Adults are about 21 cm long and catch insects in flight.

• Violet turaco Tauraco violaceus

  A deep-purple bird that moves through trees by hopping along branches.

• Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon

  A crested kingfisher with a large bill that watches for fish from a perch beside the water.

• Splendid Fairywren Malurus splendens

  The Splendid Fairywren is a small bird of Australian shrublands. Breeding males stand out with bright blue and black plumage, and the birds search for insects on the ground and in low shrubs.