Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,673 · Stories: 19,540

• Vampire Ground Finch Geospiza septentrionalis

  

  This small ground finch lives on Darwin and Wolf Islands in the northwestern Galápagos. It is known for pecking at the bases of seabirds' feathers and drinking blood.

• Green-striped Brush Finch Arremon virenticeps

  A Mexico City bird guide describes this Mexican brushfinch among dense shrubs near the ground in mountain forest. Its white throat and olive back help identify it.

• Swierstra's Francolin Pternistis swierstrai

  Swierstra's Francolin is a ground-dwelling bird of the highlands of western Angola. The female is described as smaller and duller than the male.

• Ashy-headed Goose Chloephaga poliocephala

  The Ashy-headed Goose is a small sheldgoose of Chile and southern Argentina. The sexes have similar plumage, and the birds use wetlands and grasslands in different seasons.

• Patagonian Forest Earthcreeper Upucerthia saturatior

  This earthcreeper inhabits Patagonian forest. A primary study distinguishes it from the related open-country species by traits including its short black bill and breeding habitat.

• Abyssinian Ground Thrush Geokichla piaggiae

  This ground thrush is marked by an orange head and breast, olive-brown upperparts, and a white eye-ring. It searches for fruit and small prey in the lower parts of mountain forest.

• Oriental greenfinch Chloris sinica

  A small bird of Japanese woodland, grassland and fields. It has a thick bill and eats seeds of grasses and other plants.

• Spot-billed Ground Tyrant Muscisaxicola maculirostris

  This small tyrant flycatcher uses rocky slopes and lake margins in the high Andes. It searches for arthropods on the ground and also uses gravelly river edges during the Southern Hemisphere winter.

• Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush Pterorhinus mitratus

  A laughingthrush of forests from southern Thailand through the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra. It searches for food in montane and secondary forest.

• Angola Cave Chat Xenocopsychus ansorgei

  This flycatcher occurs in localized rocky mountains in Angola and Namibia. In Namibia, its range is restricted to the northern Zebra Mountains.

• Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri

  A crested jay that searches for food from the forest canopy to the ground and stores food.

• Dark-brown Honeyeater Lichmera incana

  This honeyeater is recorded in New Caledonia’s Grand Sud Ramsar area. It searches for nectar and insects in low scrub and open ground.

• Lina's Sunbird Aethopyga linaraborae

  The male Lina’s Sunbird has a narrow throat patch, a red breast patch, a long graduated tail, and metallic blue-green markings. In July 2015, birds visited roadside trees and males displayed at one high-altitude forest site in eastern Mindanao.

• Blue-cheeked Amazon Amazona dufresniana

  A green parrot with blue cheeks and a yellow crown; its wild diet and movements remain poorly known.

• Chatham Islands Parakeet Cyanoramphus forbesi

  Forbes' parakeet is a green parrot with a bright yellow forecrown and a red frontal band that stops before the eye. It is currently restricted to dense vegetation on Mangere and Little Mangere Islands.

• Seychelles Blue Pigeon Alectroenas pulcherrimus

  This large pigeon lives on islands in the Seychelles. Its dark blue body, pale breast patch, and red bare skin on the face stand out; it feeds on fruit and seeds in trees.

• Tawny Owl Strix aluco

  A round-headed owl with large dark eyes. In Britain it is mainly active at night in wooded areas and parks with mature trees.

• Ancient Antwren Herpsilochmus gentryi

  The Ancient Antwren occurs in lowland forest in southeastern Ecuador and northern Peru. It has yellowish sides of the head and underside, with white wing bars on a gray back.

• White-throated Hawk Buteo albigula

  The White-throated Hawk has brown-and-white plumage with chestnut on the neck and chest. In Argentina it is recorded in Andean-Patagonian forest and the northwest.

• Ocellated Piculet Picumnus dorbignyanus

  This small woodpecker is recorded in northern Salta, Argentina. Males have red and white spots on the head; females lack the red. It occurs in savanna and scrub habitats.

• Lesser Ground-Cuckoo Morococcyx erythropygus

  The Lesser Ground-Cuckoo lives in arid lowlands from western Mexico to northwestern Costa Rica. It forages on open ground and, more often, in the understory.

• Tiny Cisticola Cisticola nana

  This very small cisticola occurs in dry scrub and grassland in East Africa. It is about 9–10 cm long and feeds on small invertebrates near the ground.

• Wedge-tailed Hillstar Oreotrochilus adela

  The Wedge-tailed Hillstar is notable for the male's glittering green throat and its visits to flowers in dry highlands. It lives in the Andes of Bolivia and adjacent Argentina.

• Yellow-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus goiavier

  The Yellow-vented Bulbul has olive-brown upperparts and a yellow vent. In Singapore it occurs from coastal scrub to parks and urban areas.