Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

  

  This sparrow has a russet-and-grey back and bold streaks on its white chest. It occurs across much of North America, though plumage varies by region.

• Puno Antpitta Grallaria sinaensis

  The Puno Antpitta is recorded in the highlands of Peru’s Puno Department and at a few sites in western La Paz, Bolivia. It searches for insects close to the ground in dense vegetation.

• Grey-rumped Swiftlet Collocalia marginata

  A swiftlet of the Philippines, it has white-edged rump feathers, with the extent of white varying between birds and regions.

• Flammulated Owl Psiloscops flammeolus

  The Flammulated Owl is a small owl that breeds in mountain conifer forests of western North America and winters in Mexico and Central America.

• Brown-necked Raven Corvus ruficollis

  The Brown-necked Raven is a crow with a bronze sheen on its neck and a long, triangular tail.

• Scarlet-breasted Fruiteater Pipreola frontalis

  This fruiteater occurs in two separated parts of the eastern Andes. Males have red on the throat and breast, while females have green upperparts and scaled underparts; birds forage in humid montane forest.

• Western Tanager Piranga ludoviciana

  The Western Tanager is a small bird that breeds in western North American forests. Males stand out with an orange-red head and yellow body.

• Desert Sparrow Passer simplex

  The Desert Sparrow is a small, sandy-colored sparrow. Males have a black bib and black lores, and the species occurs in desert scrub and around oases.

• Golden Pipit Tmetothylacus tenellus

  The Golden Pipit walks through dry grassland looking for insects. Adult males show yellow below and in the wings, while females are mainly brown.

• Arabian Lark Eremalauda eremodites

  The Arabian Lark is a large-billed lark of sandy deserts and open arid plains on the Arabian Peninsula. It runs along the ground while feeding, occurring singly or in pairs when breeding and in larger groups outside the breeding season.

• Red-backed Kingfisher Todiramphus pyrrhopygius

  The Red-backed Kingfisher is an Australian bird with blue-green and white plumage and a flame-colored rump. It hunts on the ground in dry woodland, taking insects and small reptiles.

• Auckland Rail Lewinia muelleri

  The Auckland Rail is a small, secretive rail remaining on two islands in New Zealand’s Auckland Islands.

• Fasciated Tiger Heron Tigrisoma fasciatum

  This tiger-heron waits quietly beside fast forest streams, with pale bars across its neck and body

• Snowy Plover Anarhynchus nivosus

  The Snowy Plover is a small, sand-colored shorebird that searches open beaches and salt-lake shores for prey. It makes a well-hidden nest on sandy beaches.

• Vitelline Masked Weaver Ploceus vitellinus

  This weaver lives in dry savanna and scrub. In breeding plumage the male has a black face and yellow body, and he builds a woven grass nest.

• Chihuahuan Meadowlark Sturnella lilianae

  This meadowlark is common in dry grasslands. It has pale brown, mottled upperparts and yellow underparts with a bold black V across the chest. It forages on the ground for seeds, grains, and insects.

• Atlantic Petrel Pterodroma incerta

  The Atlantic Petrel breeds on South Atlantic islands and spends the non-breeding season at sea. A study of birds at sea found cephalopods such as squid among their main foods.

• Red-tailed Minla Minla ignotincta

  The Red-tailed Minla lives in forest canopies, often joining small or mixed flocks. Its red tail is distinctive, and the sexes differ in plumage.

• Green-backed Trogon Trogon viridis

  Males have a green back, black throat and chest, and yellow-orange belly; females have a gray head and back with a yellow belly. The nominate subspecies occurs from Amazonian Brazil through parts of eastern Brazil and areas east of the Andes.

• Spot-winged Monarch Symposiachrus guttula

  The Spot-winged Monarch occurs on New Guinea. A guide to the Mimika region describes a black face and throat, grey back, white underparts and white wing spots, with records from lower and middle forest levels.

• Lemon-throated Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus cebuensis

  This small leaf warbler occurs on several Philippine islands. Its olive upperparts and yellow eyebrow, face, and throat stand out, though published accounts report island-level variation in the yellow areas. It searches leaves for insects.

• Black-headed Bunting Emberiza melanocephala

  This bunting migrates to Cyprus to breed, using farmland with nearby trees and shrubs, and winters in India.

• Blue Malkoha Ceuthmochares aereus

  This African cuckoo stands out for its heavy yellow bill and greenish-blue back and tail. It searches the forest for insects and small animals.

• Marsh Tit Poecile palustris

  The Marsh Tit is a small bird with a glossy black cap and dark bib. In the UK it can be confused with the similar Willow Tit.