Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata

  

  The Surf Scoter is a sea duck that nests in northern North America and spends the rest of its annual cycle mostly near ocean coasts.

• Przevalski's Parrotbill Suthora przewalskii

  Suthora przewalskii is a parrotbill of the mountains of central China. It has an ash-grey crown, chestnut throat and upper breast, and pale grey-buffy belly, and searches for insects in open coniferous forest with bamboo.

• Margaret's Batis Batis margaritae

  This small bird has a disjunct range in western Angola, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northwestern Zambia. It uses humid forest and forest edges and feeds on invertebrates.

• Van Dam's Vanga Xenopirostris damii

  This vanga lives in dry deciduous forest in northwestern Madagascar. It searches dead wood and leaf clumps for small animals.

• Somali Short-toed Lark Alaudala somalica

  This lark lives in open, dry grassland in East Africa. It has dark streaks on its reddish-brown upperparts and streaking on the breast.

• Mayotte Scops Owl Otus mayottensis

  The Mayotte Scops Owl is found only on Mayotte. It occurs in grey, brown, and rufous plumage morphs and has yellow eyes.

• Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo Hierococcyx nisicolor

  Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo is a cuckoo with predominantly gray adult plumage. It moves seasonally from its breeding range to wintering areas in Southeast Asia and is recorded in forest and forest-edge habitats.

• Black-collared Barbet Lybius torquatus

  The Black-collared Barbet has a red head, dark collar, and gray body. It eats fruit in southern African woodlands and gardens.

• Red-fronted Warbler Urorhipis rufifrons

  This small bird uses dry savanna and thorn scrub, searching for food while flicking its long tail.

• Little Shrikethrush Colluricincla megarhyncha

  It occurs on New Guinea and in northern and eastern Australia. Checklists differ over which populations belong in this species, and plumage varies across its subspecies. It gleans insects from leaves in forests and wooded habitats.

• 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.

• Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush Trochalopteron erythrocephalum

  A 24–26 cm laughingthrush of Himalayan forests and bamboo. Its brown body has a chestnut forehead and nape and green-gold wing and tail panels; head color varies among subspecies.

• Tibetan Blackbird Turdus maximus

  The Tibetan Blackbird is a high-altitude Himalayan thrush. This entry uses Turdus maximus, while noting that some taxonomic references place it within a broader blackbird grouping. Nepal is one part of its range.

• Lesser Seedcracker Pyrenestes minor

  Males are red from the head to the upper breast, while females have less red on the head. Juveniles are brownish, and the species feeds on grass seeds.

• Green pheasant Phasianus versicolor

  A long-tailed bird of open woods, grassland and farmland in Japan. Males and females differ markedly in colour.

• Isabella Oriole Oriolus isabellae

  The Isabela Oriole is an oriole recorded on Luzon in the Philippines.

• Long-crested Myna Basilornis corythaix

  This myna lives on Seram Island. Its long crest and green sheen on black plumage are distinctive.

• Chestnut-crowned Becard Pachyramphus castaneus

  This brown becard uses humid forest edges and floodplain forest. It feeds on fruit and insects.

• 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.

• Yellow-legged Flyrobin Microeca griseoceps

  The Yellow-legged Flyrobin is recorded in New Guinea’s mid-montane rainforest and on Australia’s Cape York Peninsula. The Birds Queensland account uses the name Kempiella griseoceps, while the pool lists Microeca griseoceps.

• Giant Pitta Hydrornis caeruleus

  The Giant Pitta is a large pitta of lowland forests in Southeast Asia. A Sabah bird guide describes males as blue and females as browner.

• European Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis rufula

  Its breeding range extends from the Iberian Peninsula across North Africa and the Middle East to northwestern South Asia. Northern populations migrate, while those in the south are mainly resident.

• Long-wattled Umbrellabird Cephalopterus penduliger

  A large black bird whose male has a long chest wattle and an overhanging crest. Females are smaller, with a reduced or absent wattle.

• Lazuli Bunting Passerina amoena

  Males have a blue head and back with an orange-red breast, while females are subdued brown. It breeds in western North America and winters in Mexico.