Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• Fire-bellied Woodpecker Chloropicus pyrrhogaster

  

  This woodpecker lives in lowland forests of West Africa. Its account gives a length of about 24 cm, but the plumage description available here is for males only.

• Strange Weaver Ploceus alienus

  The Strange Weaver lives in montane forest of the Albertine Rift and searches among branches and leaves for small invertebrates. Natural-history details are sparse, so nest construction and social behavior are not described here.

• Yellow Tit Machlolophus holsti

  The Yellow Tit is endemic to Taiwan’s mountains and uses the canopy of primary broadleaf forest. Males are strikingly black and yellow, while females and juveniles differ in color and crest shape.

• Eastern Long-tailed Hermit Phaethornis superciliosus

  The Eastern Long-tailed Hermit has a long, down-curved bill and long white-tipped tail feathers. It feeds at flowers beside tropical forest streams and also takes insects when flowers are scarce.

• Wied's Tyrant-Manakin Neopelma aurifrons

  This manakin occurs in moist forests of eastern Brazil. Its face and chest are olive-gray, with a pale lemon belly.

• Rufous Wren Cinnycerthia unirufa

  The Rufous Wren lives in humid montane forest in the northern Andes. It is rich rufous with black lores and faintly barred wings and tail, usually moving in pairs or family groups.

• Sick’s Swift Chaetura meridionalis

  Sick’s Swift (Chaetura meridionalis) breeds from eastern Bolivia to northern Argentina and east-central Brazil, then moves north for winter. Specimen descriptions give adults a sooty-brown body and a pale throat. In central Argentina, two nests were recorded in tree hollows in Chaco woodland.

• Pearl-bellied White-eye Zosterops grayi

  This small bird has yellowish plumage, a white belly, and a broad white eye-ring. It is found only on Kai Besar Island in Indonesia.

• Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans

  The Caspian Gull is a gull with a white head, long pale bill and long wings. In Britain, some arrive in late summer or autumn and spend the winter.

• New Zealand Pigeon Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae

  The New Zealand Pigeon is a large pigeon endemic to New Zealand. Its green and bronze iridescent body contrasts with a white breast; it mainly eats fruit, with leaves and buds in some seasons.

• Bare-headed Laughingthrush Melanocichla calva

  This laughingthrush occurs in the hills of northeastern Borneo. Its dark body, bare head, pale blue areas around the eyes, and red bill are distinctive.

• Black-faced Cuckooshrike Coracina novaehollandiae

  The Black-faced Cuckooshrike occurs in wooded places other than rainforests, including suburbs. It eats insects and other foods, and is also called the Shufflewing for its wing-shuffling movement on landing.

• Chestnut-bellied Monarch Monarcha castaneiventris

  This entry covers records from Santa Isabel and Guadalcanal. The nominate form has a chestnut belly, and field notes record nesting in a tree fork.

• Styan's Grasshopper Warbler Locustella pleskei

  The sexes look alike, with olive-brown upperparts, grayish-white underparts, and a rounded tail. It breeds on islands near Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East, then winters farther south.

• Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus

  Male Cirl Buntings have noticeable black-and-yellow facial stripes; females and young birds are duller. The British population lives in farmland with hedges and grassland and changes its diet with the seasons.

• Sanderling Calidris alba

  A small shorebird that runs along the water’s edge, probing wet sand for tiny prey with a short black bill and black legs.

• Crested Duck Lophonetta specularioides

  A northwestern Patagonia account describes this duck's crest and its feeding near lakes and rivers, where it takes small aquatic animals.

• Rufous-headed Parrotbill Paradoxornis bakeri

  The Rufous-headed Parrotbill forms small groups in bamboo within or beside evergreen forest. It eats insects, seeds and berries. Indian breeding records describe low nests woven from grass and spider web in bamboo or reeds.

• Pollen's Vanga Xenopirostris polleni

  This vanga is endemic to humid evergreen forest in eastern Madagascar. It is recorded from sea level to 2,000 m, though its distribution is patchy.

• Jerdon's Bush Lark Plocealauda affinis

  A lark of open grasslands in India. It is active on the ground by day and feeds on seeds and small animals.

• Black-capped Screech Owl Megascops atricapilla

  A screech-owl with dark, grey, and rufous colour morphs; every morph has a dark crown. It inhabits forests in south-eastern Brazil and nearby regions.

• Dwarf Koel Microdynamis parva

  The Dwarf Koel occurs on New Guinea and nearby islands. About 20–22 cm long, it searches for fruit in the forest canopy and is seen alone or in pairs.

• Double-toothed Barbet Lybius bidentatus

  This barbet ranges from West to East Africa. Two prominent tooth-like projections mark the upper bill. It eats flying termites as well as fruit and nuts.

• Green Longtail Urolais epichlorus

  This small bird has yellowish-green plumage and a long tail. It is recorded in Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Bioko Island offshore. It lives in montane and eucalypt forests and mostly eats insects and caterpillars.