Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,673 · Stories: 19,540

• Western Gull Larus occidentalis

  

  A large gull of the Pacific coast, marked by a dark back, it eats fish and marine invertebrates.

• Puna Miner Geositta punensis

  A ground-dwelling bird of high Andean grasslands in northwestern Argentina. It is brown above, greyish-white below, with cinnamon wings and tail marked by dark bands.

• Usambara Thrush Turdus roehli

  The Usambara Thrush occurs in the Usambara and North Pare Mountains of northeastern Tanzania. Its reported habitat includes forest with a closed canopy, a more open lower layer, and many tall shrubs.

• Hispaniolan Crossbill Loxia megaplaga

  The Hispaniolan Crossbill is a finch from Hispaniola that feeds on pine seeds. The sexes differ in plumage, and the tips of the bill cross.

• Dusky-tailed Flatbill Ramphotrigon fuscicauda

  This 15–17 cm flycatcher uses forest bamboo thickets and feeds on invertebrates. Sound recordings include sites in Peru’s Manu region.

• Subtropical Cacique Cacicus uropygialis

  The Subtropical Cacique occurs in the Andes from northwestern Venezuela through Colombia and Ecuador to southern Peru. It is recorded in the western and central Colombian Andes and at scattered sites along the eastern slope.

• Streaked Barwing Actinodura souliei

  This barwing occurs in parts of China and Vietnam. Its crest is pointed, and the crown and ear-coverts are silver-gray and streaked. Markings and tail pattern differ between subspecies.

• Common Diving Petrel Pelecanoides urinatrix

  This small diving seabird breeds on islands in the Southern Hemisphere. It forages in waters around its breeding islands and uses burrows on land at night.

• Moorland Chat Pinarochroa sordida

  The plumage and behaviour below come from a 1949 account of the Ruwenzori Mountains only. It describes birds above the bamboo zone, with dark brown upperparts, a faint wingbar and white outer tail feathers.

• Pied Starling Lamprotornis bicolor

  Its glossy dark brown back contrasts with a white belly. In southern African grasslands and farmland, it forages for insects on the ground, often in flocks.

• Sand Lark Alaudala raytal

  The Sand Lark is a small lark found on riverbanks, salt-lake margins, and sandy coasts. Its sandy plumage blends with open ground.

• Silvery-throated Jay Cyanolyca argentigula

  This blue-violet jay is marked by a silvery throat and upper breast and a white band on the forehead. It lives in humid mountain forest from Costa Rica to western Panama and eats fruit and small animals.

• Grey Waxbill Estrilda perreini

  This small waxbill lives around African forest and woodland edges. It has a gray body, red rump and black eye-line, and forages under cover for grass seeds and other foods.

• Nyanza Swift Apus niansae

  A swift with dark wings and a pale throat that catches insects over eastern African highlands, cliffs, and towns.

• New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae

  The New Holland Honeyeater is a small bird found in southern Australia’s forests and gardens. It feeds mainly on nectar, as well as insects and other foods.

• Spectacled Weaver Ploceus ocularis

  This weaver occurs in wooded edges, riverside vegetation, and gardens across sub-Saharan Africa. It eats insects as well as fruit and nectar.

• Metallic-winged Sunbird Aethopyga pulcherrima

  This sunbird occurs on several Philippine islands. Clements now includes the Luzon and Bohol birds, formerly treated as separate species, within A. pulcherrima. Males on Mindanao are described with metallic blue-green markings and a broad throat patch.

• Red-fronted Macaw Ara rubrogenys

  This large parrot has red on its forehead, shoulders, and thighs, with blue on its wings. It occurs in central Bolivia and uses dry woodland and thorn scrub.

• Stella's Lorikeet Charmosyna stellae

  Stella's Lorikeet inhabits montane forest on New Guinea. It feeds on flowers and fruit, and local movement as food supplies change is considered possible.

• Squatter Pigeon Geophaps scripta

  This Australian pigeon has bold black-and-white facial and throat markings. It picks up seeds among sparse grass and may run rather than fly when disturbed.

• Ural owl Strix uralensis

  A forest owl with mixed white and brown plumage, found in Eurasia including Japan.

• Corn Crake Crex crex

  A small rail that hides in tall grass. Its rasping call may be heard before the bird is seen.

• Mato Grosso Antbird Cercomacra melanaria

  This antbird occurs in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. A study in Brazil's Pantanal found it in understory thickets of forest and seasonally flooded savanna.

• Rufous-necked Sparrowhawk Tachyspiza erythrauchen

  The Rufous-necked Sparrowhawk is a raptor with a grey body and a striking rufous collar. It lives in forests of the Moluccas and watches from tree perches.