Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,673 · Stories: 19,540

• Letter-winged Kite Elanus scriptus

  

  The Letter-winged Kite is an Australian raptor with a black mark under each wing that can look like an M or W. It is active by night as well as by day and mainly eats rodents.

• Maranon Tyrannulet Nesotriccus maranonicus

  This small flycatcher lives in the dry Marañón Valley of northern Peru. It has two pale wing bars and feeds on insects and fruits such as mistletoe.

• 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.

• 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.

• Mountain Wren-Babbler Gypsophila crassa

  The Mountain Wren-Babbler is a small bird of montane forest on Borneo. Its brown body is set off by pale eyebrows and throat, and it can be hard to see in dark gullies.

• Green Shrike-Babbler Pteruthius xanthochlorus

  This small bird occurs in mountain regions from the Himalayas to southern China. Males have a gray head and olive upperparts, while females have a paler gray crown. The account records it in mixed mountain forest and oak-rhododendron woodland; some populations move in elevation.

• White-crowned Tapaculo Scytalopus atratus

  This small bird lives in humid montane forest on the eastern Andes of Peru. It forages near the ground and can be difficult to see.

• Black-throated Munia Lonchura kelaarti

  The Black-throated Munia is a small bird whose back and belly markings vary by region. It occurs in southern Indian hills and Sri Lanka and eats grass and weed seeds, as well as rice.

• Long-tailed Glossy Starling Lamprotornis caudatus

  The Long-tailed Glossy Starling is an African starling with a metallic green back and a long purple tail.

• Long-tailed Minivet Pericrocotus ethologus

  The Long-tailed Minivet male is notable for a black head and red on the wings. It searches for insects in treetops and is usually social outside the breeding season.

• Little Bittern Botaurus minutus

  European birds are pigeon-sized herons with pale wing panels. They hide in reedbeds and are active at dawn and dusk.

• Tumbes Sparrow Rhynchospiza stolzmanni

  This sparrow has a finely streaked brown back, a striped head, and a gray underside. It forages on the ground in scrub. Most records cited here are from north-western Peru, with the species also occurring in Ecuador.

• Large Pied Wagtail Motacilla maderaspatensis

  The White-browed Wagtail is marked by black-and-white plumage, a long tail, and a broad white eyebrow. It walks near water while wagging its tail and flies with an undulating path.

• Band-tailed Sierra Finch Porphyrospiza alaudina

  The Band-tailed Sierra Finch forages on the ground in open Andean country. Males are gray with a white tail band, while females are brown and streaked.

• Galapagos Shearwater Puffinus subalaris

  This seabird is endemic to the Galápagos and often occurs near shore. A 1965 field study, using the then-current name Audubon's Shearwater subspecies subalaris, recorded it feeding around shoals of fish.

• Spotted Palm Thrush Cichladusa guttata

  About the size of a House Sparrow, it searches for food in leaf litter and thickets by day. It eats insects and plant parts and builds its nest in palm trees.

• Blue Seedeater Amaurospiza concolor

  At El Imposible in El Salvador, this species was reported as almost always associated with vegetative bamboo in the understory. A 2023 study supports treating the South American Andean aequatorialis as a separate species.

• Ash-colored Cuckoo Coccycua cinerea

  This cuckoo has a red eye ring and bluish-gray head. It uses the middle levels of trees, and breeding birds studied in native woodland in east-central Argentina nested in trees.

• House Swift Apus nipalensis

  The House Swift is a swift with a dark body, a white throat patch, and a broad white rump band. It catches insects in flight and forages over forests and towns.

• Racket-tailed Treepie Crypsirina temia

  The Racket-tailed Treepie is a slender corvid with green sheen on its dark plumage and a long tail that spreads at the tip. In Thailand it searches shrubs in pairs or small groups along forest edges and in bamboo woodland.

• Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl Megascops watsonii

  The Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl occurs in gray and reddish-brown color morphs and has variable ear tufts. It favors forest interiors.

• Black-headed Lapwing Vanellus tectus

  A lapwing with a black head, white facial markings and a long crest. The bill is red with a black tip and the legs are pink. It lives in dry grassland, sandy areas and other open habitats in Africa.

• Rufous-naped Tit Periparus rufonuchalis

  This tit lives in mountain regions from the western Himalayas into Central Asia. The male is marked by a black head and white cheeks.

• White-browed Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus schisticeps

  The White-browed Scimitar Babbler is a medium-sized bird with a slightly curved yellow bill, a white eyebrow, and a clean white breast.