Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,676 · Stories: 19,540

• Elfin Woods Warbler Setophaga angelae

  

  This warbler is restricted to Puerto Rico's mountain forests. Adults are black and white above and white with black streaks below, and they glean insects from leaves and branches.

• Mascarene Swiftlet Aerodramus francicus

  A swiftlet of Réunion and Mauritius, it has brown upperparts, a pale rump and a shallowly forked tail. It roosts in caves and lava tubes.

• Painted Honeyeater Grantiella picta

  This honeyeater occurs in southeastern Australia. Mistletoe fruit is its main food, and it also takes nectar and insects.

• Grey-backed Thrush Turdus hortulorum

  The Grey-backed Thrush is a common winter visitor in Hong Kong, occurring in forests, wooded areas, and urban parks. Males show grey and orange, while females are brown and spotted.

• Ruwenzori Double-collared Sunbird Cinnyris stuhlmanni

  The current name is Cinnyris stuhlmanni, but a 1949 Ruwenzori account uses the older name Nectarinia afer stuhlmanni and describes males there. Current data place it in Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

• Hooded Wheatear Oenanthe monacha

  The Hooded Wheatear is a flycatcher relative of bare desert valleys and canyons. Males are black and white; females and young birds are paler.

• Hammond's Flycatcher Empidonax hammondii

  This small flycatcher occurs in western North America and nests mainly in mature evergreen forests, often in the mountains.

• White-winged Guan Penelope albipennis

  Black plumage is set off by white wing feathers and white flecking; the throat has bare reddish-purple skin and a double-lobed dewlap. It inhabits dry forests in northwestern Peru and calls at dawn and during the breeding season.

• Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca

  This Australian bird has bold black-and-white markings. Pairs search the ground for food and build mud nests.

• Red-headed Quelea Quelea erythrops

  The Red-headed Quelea lives around wetlands and damp grassland; breeding males stand out with red heads.

• River Lapwing Vanellus duvaucelii

  The River Lapwing is seen along rivers in India. Its black, grey, and brown plumage and raised black crest are distinctive.

• Blue-winged Minla Actinodura cyanouroptera

  The Blue-winged Minla is a babbler with blue wings and a blue-gray head that moves in flocks through forest undergrowth.

• Black Turnstone Arenaria melanocephala

  The Black Turnstone is a seasonal migrant along the Pacific coast that searches for food by turning over rocks and seaweed.

• Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus

  A seabird with dark upper wings and white undersides. It breeds on islands off the UK and migrates to the South American coast for winter.

• Azure-naped Jay Cyanocorax heilprini

  The Azure-naped Jay is a large jay of lowland northern South America. Its blue-grey body contrasts with a pale sky-blue nape and white-tipped tail feathers.

• Beach Kingfisher Todiramphus saurophagus

  The Beach Kingfisher is a white-and-blue coastal kingfisher. It nests in tree cavities near the shore and catches fish, crabs, and insects.

• Cozumel Vireo Vireo bairdi

  This resident vireo occurs only on Cozumel Island, Mexico. It has chestnut-toned head and back, a white eye-ring, and two pale wing-bars, and forages in low to middle vegetation.

• Black-and-white Mannikin Lonchura bicolor

  This small African finch has striking black-and-white markings. In the wild it feeds mainly on seeds and occurs in small groups around grassland and forest edges.

• Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus

  Adults in breeding plumage have a dark reddish-brown head and chest with white wings that flash as they take flight. In Hong Kong it occurs in wetlands year-round, with both migrants and resident birds.

• Amethyst-throated Hummingbird Lampornis amethystinus

  This hummingbird inhabits forests from Mexico into northern Central America. Adults have a blue-violet throat and feed among flowers in the lower and middle parts of the forest.

• Russet Sparrow Passer rutilans

  A sparrow ranging from the Himalayas across East Asia. Western populations use open woodland and terraced fields, while eastern populations use woodland edges and cultivated land; winter flocks sometimes forage together.

• Gansu Leaf-warbler Phylloscopus kansuensis

  This small leaf-warbler breeds in western China. Its breeding forest and pale facial and crown stripes help describe it.

• Mediterranean Short-toed Lark Alaudala rufescens

  A small, pale lark that runs along the ground while feeding in dry, open country. It can be hard to distinguish from similar short-toed larks where their ranges meet.

• Pohnpei Lorikeet Trichoglossus rubiginosus

  The adult Pohnpei Lorikeet has deep maroon plumage, with olive to yellow on the wings and tail. It visits flowering trees in small groups.