Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,676 · Stories: 19,540

• Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea

  

  A duck with rich rusty-brown plumage; the sexes look very similar.

• Rufous-backed Antvireo Dysithamnus xanthopterus

  This antvireo occurs in montane forest on Brazil's Atlantic slope. A Brazilian species account describes birds moving alone or in pairs through the middle and lower forest strata and searching live foliage for invertebrates.

• Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii

  Greater Sand Plovers breed in inland parts of Eurasia and move to southern coasts for the non-breeding season.

• Crested Lark Galerida cristata

  The Crested Lark is a brown, streaked lark with a noticeable crest. In Spain it is commonly found in open places such as fields and roadsides.

• Black-capped Bulbul Rubigula melanictera

  The Black-capped Bulbul is endemic to Sri Lanka. The Ceylon Bird Club page uses the older combination Pycnonotus melanicterus; Clements uses the current spelling Rubigula melanictera.

• Stripe-breasted Creeper Rhabdornis inornatus

  The Stripe-breasted Creeper lives in Philippine forests. Its white throat and belly, brown back, and broadly white-streaked sides are useful field marks; it may perch on dead branches.

• Jamaican Vireo Vireo modestus

  The Jamaican Vireo is a small, rounded bird with gray-green to olive plumage, a white iris, white wing bars, pale yellow underparts, and bluish-gray legs. It hides in dense vegetation, eats insects and small fruit, and occurs at forest edges and roadsides across elevations in Jamaica.

• Diademed Amazon Amazona diadema

  Amazona diadema is a parrot of the Brazilian Amazon basin between the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimões.

• Blue-capped Puffleg Eriocnemis glaucopoides

  This resident hummingbird is recorded in Argentina and Bolivia, at elevations of 1,500–3,400 m.

• Antillean Piculet Nesoctites micromegas

  This small piculet lives on Hispaniola. Its yellow crown and the streaked pale underside are distinctive.

• Tawny-shouldered Blackbird Agelaius humeralis

  The Tawny-shouldered Blackbird is widespread in Cuba and is also recorded in northern and west-central Haiti. It occurs at forest edges and in open places, including gardens.

• Scissor-tailed Nightjar Hydropsalis torquata

  The male has outer tail feathers that extend well beyond the body. This nightjar rests on the ground and catches flying insects at dusk and after dark.

• Streak-capped Treehunter Thripadectes virgaticeps

  A treehunter of the southern Colombian Andes. The Sibundoy Valley field guide describes a dark head with fine white streaks, a reddish-brown back, and a chestnut tail.

• Ethiopian Swallow Hirundo aethiopica

  A small swallow with a reddish forehead, dark-blue upperparts and a deeply forked tail. It catches flying insects; its two subspecies occupy separate parts of Africa.

• Sharp-tailed Grouse Tympanuchus phasianellus

  The Sharp-tailed Grouse lives in North American grasslands and shrublands. In spring, males inflate their throat sacs and stamp their feet during courtship.

• Antarctic Tern Sterna vittata

  The Antarctic Tern occurs on southern subantarctic islands and exposed rocky areas of Antarctica. New Zealand birds belong to subspecies bethunei.

• Rufous-legged Owl Strix rufipes

  The Rufous-legged Owl is a nocturnal owl of the humid forests of northwestern Patagonia. Its underside has bold pale and brown bars, and the thighs and belly are cinnamon-colored.

• Mariana Kingfisher Todiramphus albicilla

  The Mariana Kingfisher was recorded in a forest-bird survey on Tinian. A sample collected on Saipan is described as white-headed in a phylogenetic study.

• California Towhee Melozone crissalis

  The California Towhee is a sparrow-like bird of scrub in California and Oregon. It forages on the ground and stays near low shrubs.

• Red Bishop Euplectes orix

  The Red Bishop is a southern African bird whose breeding males turn red and black. It gathers in grassland and waterside reed beds and feeds on seeds and insects.

• Slaty-breasted Rail Lewinia striata

  It is marked by a long red bill, a gray breast, and fine white bars. It hides in thick wetland and grassland vegetation, appearing briefly at its edges.

• Spot-breasted Laughingthrush Garrulax merulinus

  This laughingthrush uses forest understory and bamboo in parts of mainland Southeast Asia. It is dark brown, with black spots on a pale throat and breast and a white line behind the eye. It forages near the ground.

• Short-bearded Honeyeater Melionyx nouhuysi

  This dark-plumaged honeyeater has a short, white beard-like throat tuft. It lives in high mountains of western New Guinea among trees and shrubs.

• Phoenix Petrel Pterodroma alba

  The Phoenix Petrel is a pelagic seabird with a dark brown head clearly set off from its white belly. It ranges over the central Pacific and takes squid and other prey near the sea surface.