Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,813 · Stories: 19,540

• Montane Nightjar Caprimulgus poliocephalus

  

  The Montane Nightjar is about 22–24 cm long. It is active at night and hunts insects in highland forest and semi-open places.

• Guianan Cock-of-the-rock Rupicola rupicola

  This bird lives in humid forests of northern South America. Males stand out with bright orange plumage and a crest; they eat mainly fruit and gather to display during courtship.

• Pallid Scops Owl Otus brucei

  The Pallid Scops Owl is a small owl of dry regions. A winter study in southern Israel recorded individuals roosting in acacias growing in desert washes.

• Black-and-white Triller Lalage melanoleuca

  A triller of the Philippines. The source's detailed color description is specifically for a male of the nominate subspecies.

• Pinyon Jay Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus

  A blue jay that travels in large flocks, it gathers and caches pinyon pine seeds.

• White-browed Crake Poliolimnas cinereus

  The White-browed Crake is a wetland bird with a broad white line bordering the black orbital area. It searches for food among floating plants and muddy margins, and ranges from Southeast Asia to Pacific islands.

• Savi's Warbler Locustella luscinioides

  Savi's Warbler is a plain brown bird of reedbeds with a loud, insect-like buzzing song. In the UK it breeds at a small number of wetland sites.

• Purple-headed Starling Hylopsar purpureiceps

  A forest starling with a glossy purple head and chest and a blue-green body.

• Marsh Widowbird Euplectes hartlaubi

  This weaver occurs patchily in central and eastern Africa, using swampy grassland and nearby cultivated areas. The male's tail and plumage change with breeding phase.

• Madagascar Snipe Gallinago macrodactyla

  The Madagascar Snipe is a snipe of wetlands and rice fields on Madagascar.

• Bolivian Blackbird Oreopsar bolivianus

  This blackbird lives in dry scrub and open river-edge woodland in Bolivia's central Andes. Flocks forage on the ground and in fields, eating grains and fruit.

• Purple Heron Ardea purpurea

  A heron with a buff head and neck, black cap, gray back, and deep chestnut shoulder patch. It favors dense plants beside shallow water.

• Alpine Pipit Anthus gutturalis

  A pipit of New Guinea's high alpine grasslands. It favors short grass and places with nearby bushes.

• Black-collared Swallow Pygochelidon melanoleuca

  This swallow has a black chest band against a white belly. A study along a river in southeastern Brazil recorded it nesting in rock cavities.

• White-banded Mockingbird Mimus triurus

  The White-banded Mockingbird is marked by a white wing band and a cinnamon-colored rump. It walks through dry scrub and grassland in Argentina while searching for insects and other small prey.

• Malachite Sunbird Nectarinia famosa

  The Malachite Sunbird occurs in separate parts of East and southern Africa. It feeds mainly on nectar and has a slender body and long tail.

• Oaxaca Sparrow Aimophila notosticta

  A sparrow of interior Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Its black bill and black facial markings around a broken white eyering are distinctive.

• Dusky Leaftosser Sclerurus obscurior

  Sclerurus obscurior searches leaf litter on the forest floor. Peru Aves calls it the South American Leaftosser and notes that Tawny-throated Leaftosser was used formerly.

• Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris

  A small bird of open country in North America that searches the ground for seeds and insects. Short feathers on the male’s head can rise like tiny horns.

• Blue-headed Sapphire Chrysuronia grayi

  This hummingbird is recorded in dry areas of Colombia and Ecuador. A 2015 paper uses the older genus name Amazilia grayi and compares the male's tail and the female's underside with a related species.

• Asian Desert Warbler Curruca nana

  The Asian Desert Warbler is a small, sandy-brown warbler. In the UAE it is seen mainly in winter or while passing through, in dry places with sparse plants.

• Sumatran Trogon Apalharpactes mackloti

  This trogon lives in montane forest on Sumatra. The male has metallic green and blue plumage, a yellow throat, and a red bill; females are similarly colored.

• Buff-barred Warbler Phylloscopus pulcher

  This small leaf warbler lives in hill and mountain forests around the Himalayas. Its breeding range extends through the southern Tibetan and southwestern Chinese region.

• White-faced Plover Charadrius dealbatus

  It is a plover with extensive white on the face that breeds in East Asia and winters along Southeast Asian coasts.