Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,676 · Stories: 19,540

• Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala

  

  The Black-headed Heron is a large heron with a black head and gray-and-white body. The sexes look alike, though some birds have little or no white on the front of the neck.

• Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica

  This shorebird breeds along Arctic and subarctic coasts. Outside the breeding season, it probes coastal mud and sand with its long bill.

• Dune Lark Calendulauda erythrochlamys

  The Dune Lark is treated as endemic to Namibia's Namib Desert and lives on sparsely vegetated dunes. Some taxonomies include a closely related lark within this species.

• Violet-crowned Hummingbird Leucolia violiceps

  This hummingbird occurs in western Mexico and reaches southeastern Arizona. It uses mid-elevation canyons and streamside woodland, feeding on nectar and small insects.

• Klages's Antbird Drymophila klagesi

  Klages's Antbird lives in montane forest from northern Venezuela to eastern Colombia. Pairs forage in bamboo and dense lower growth for insects and other small prey.

• Ruddy Woodcreeper Dendrocincla homochroa

  This woodcreeper ranges from Mexico to northern Colombia and far northern Venezuela. It is mostly rufous and lives in humid forest, semi-open woodland, and clearings. It eats spiders and insects and may follow army-ant columns.

• Mishmi Wren-Babbler Spelaeornis badeigularis

  This understory bird is recorded in the Mishmi Hills of Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. Records include Lohit, Roing, and Hunli, with a 2016 report farther north near Anini.

• Crested Partridge Rollulus rouloul

  The male has a striking red crest and differs greatly in color from the female; both forage on the forest floor.

• Emerald-collared Parakeet Psittacula calthrapae

  Layard's Parakeet is endemic to Sri Lanka and uses moist forest, tea plantations, gardens, and forest edges.

• Island Scrub Jay Aphelocoma insularis

  The Island Scrub-Jay is a large jay found only on Santa Cruz Island, California.

• Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus

  The lark sparrow walks through open grassland and scrub, searching on the ground for seeds and insects.

• Little Woodpecker Veniliornis passerinus

  This small woodpecker is widespread across northern and eastern South America. It favors forest edges and regenerating woodland over dense forest interior and searches bark for insects.

• Band-tailed Guan Penelope argyrotis

  This large guan lives in humid forests of Colombia and Venezuela. It has a dark rufous back and an olive-brown breast.

• Rufous Owl Ninox rufa

  The Rufous Owl is a large owl with reddish-brown plumage and pale bars. It rests in leafy cover by day and is active at night.

• Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher Todirostrum nigriceps

  This flycatcher lives in moist forest from Central America into north-western South America and catches small insects in the canopy and at forest edges.

• Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti

  A wheatear that searches the ground for small prey in dry country. Males show clear black-and-white markings, while females are sandier.

• Pygmy Swiftlet Collocalia troglodytes

  This small swiftlet is endemic to the Philippines. It has a white rump band and forages near the forest canopy in Palawan.

• Puff-throated Babbler Pellorneum ruficeps

  The Puff-throated Babbler forages on the ground. In the Indian nominate form, its rufous head, white throat, and dark breast streaks stand out.

• Black-browed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus bistrigiceps

  A small bird with a white eyebrow and a dark line above it, breeding in reed and silver-grass meadows.

• African Golden Weaver Ploceus xanthops

  The African Golden Weaver is a weaver of sub-Saharan Africa. In breeding plumage, males have chestnut coloring from the face onto the breast; females are duller.

• Rufous-winged Sunbird Cinnyris rufipennis

  The Rufous-winged Sunbird is a small sunbird known only from Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains. It feeds at flowering plants from the understory to the canopy, and breeding is thought to occur during the November–February rainy season.

• Rufous Chatterer Argya rubiginosa

  This laughingthrush occurs in the savannas and shrublands of eastern Africa. It searches close to the ground in leaf litter for termites and other invertebrates.

• Spur-winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis

  This large waterbird lives around wetlands and eats mainly plant matter.

• Rose-collared Piha Lipaugus streptophorus

  This cotinga occurs locally on the tepuis of southeastern Venezuela and adjacent northern Brazil and Guyana. It feeds mainly on fruit and also takes insects.