Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,813 · Stories: 19,540

• Sooty Thicket Fantail Rhipidura threnothorax

  

  This 16–18 cm fantail uses lowland forest undergrowth and wet grasslands. It is active by day and eats invertebrates.

• 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.

• Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos

  Adults are slim, long-tailed gray birds. In North American towns and grasslands, they forage for insects and eat more fruit in fall and winter.

• Bush Blackcap Sylvia nigricapillus

  This babbler occurs in South Africa and western Eswatini. It uses montane forest margins and scrub, and some high-altitude populations move downslope in winter.

• Sooty Munia Lonchura melaena

  This is a small mannikin described here from its New Britain population. It has a black head and breast and eats grass seeds and sugarcane seed heads.

• Red-and-black Thrush Geokichla mendeni

  A thrush recorded on islands of eastern Indonesia. A survey on Peleng found birds in hill forest and also documented fledglings.

• Blue-breasted Bee-eater Merops variegatus

  This 18–21 cm bee-eater has a green crown and back, a black eye stripe, and a dark throat patch. It catches flying insects over damp grassland and reedbeds.

• Jamaican Becard Pachyramphus niger

  A becard found on Jamaica. It searches below the forest canopy and along forest edges for insects and fruit.

• Red-throated Barbet Psilopogon mystacophanos

  The Red-throated Barbet lives in moist forests of Southeast Asia and feeds mainly on fruit, especially figs. Males have a red throat and crown with blue cheeks; females have a green head.

• Vegetarian Finch Platyspiza crassirostris

  The Vegetarian Finch lives on several Galápagos Islands and uses its stout bill to take plant foods. It is extinct on Floreana.

• Biak Coucal Centropus chalybeus

  The Biak Coucal is a cuckoo found on Biak and Supiori, northwest of New Guinea. It is usually inconspicuous unless it calls.

• Marquesan Kingfisher Todiramphus godeffroyi

  The Marquesan Kingfisher was recorded on Tahuata in the Marquesas Islands by a 2011 survey. In forest it eats insects and small lizards and nests in tree cavities.

• Cinnamon Woodpecker Celeus loricatus

  The Cinnamon Woodpecker has cinnamon-colored upperparts and wavy black barring. Plumage and barring vary among subspecies and individuals; males have a red throat, while females have a uniformly rufous head.

• Neblina Tapaculo Scytalopus altirostris

  Endemic to Peru, this gray tapaculo has variable rufous markings and forages near the ground in humid montane forest and scrub with bunchgrass.

• Australian Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax varius

  A large cormorant found from Australia's coasts to inland wetlands. It dives for fish and often spreads its wings to dry after fishing.

• White-shouldered Antbird Akletos melanoceps

  This antbird occurs in the western Amazon. The male is black with a concealed white shoulder patch; the female is rufous with a black head.

• Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis

  An adult Asian Glossy Starling is dark green-black with red eyes. It eats fruit and insects and is often seen in flocks.

• Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill Bycanistes subcylindricus

  A black-and-white forest hornbill with a large bill, it feeds on fruit and changes its movements with the season

• Common Merganser Mergus merganser

  A streamlined diving duck with a long, narrow bill that eats fish. It breeds widely across the north and moves south for winter.

• Chestnut-rumped Babbler Stachyris maculata

  The Chestnut-rumped Babbler is a small bird studied in lowland forests of Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. Researchers recorded it foraging among suspended dead leaves and showing bluish skin on the head while calling.

• Streak-throated Barwing Actinodura waldeni

  This barwing lives in mossy forests of the eastern Himalayas. Its short tail and barred wings and tail are distinctive, while the color of the underparts varies among subspecies.

• Orange-crowned Oriole Icterus auricapillus

  Its yellow-orange plumage is brightest on the head, contrasting with its black face, breast, and tail; each black wing has an orange shoulder patch.

• Augur Buzzard Buteo augur

  The Augur Buzzard is notable for its reddish tail and variable underparts. It watches from perches or scans from the air for small prey.

• White-collared Foliage-gleaner Anabazenops fuscus

  This bird is recorded in forests of southeastern Brazil. Its bill is bluish-yellow, with white markings around and above the eye. Pairs move through dense foliage and along trunks, inspecting dead leaves and epiphytes for food.