Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• Northern House Wren Troglodytes aedon

  

  The Northern House Wren is a small brown bird found even around homes and parks in North America. It searches for insects in low branches and shrubs and often gives a lively, bubbling song.

• Ameline Swiftlet Aerodramus amelis

  The Ameline Swiftlet occurs on Philippine islands and Balambangan Island off northern Borneo. It flies over forests and open habitats.

• Taiwan Yuhina Yuhina brunneiceps

  The Taiwan Yuhina is endemic to Taiwan. It lives in mountain areas at 1,000–3,000 m and often uses the middle and upper levels of broadleaf and mixed forest.

• Large-billed Tern Phaetusa simplex

  Its long yellow bill and black cap stand out. It lives mainly along rivers and lakes in South America.

• Common Ground Dove Columbina passerina

  The Common Ground Dove is a small dove of the southern United States. It forages for seeds on the ground, where its gray-brown plumage blends with soil and grass.

• Spot-necked Babbler Stachyris strialata

  The Spot-necked Babbler is a small babbler, 15–17 cm long. It searches forest cover for invertebrates, and a rare field report describes it preening a different babbler species.

• Samoan Triller Lalage sharpei

  This small bird occurs in the highlands of Upolu and Savai'i in Samoa. The sexes are similar and it feeds on fruit and invertebrates. The Savai'i form, tenebrosa, is darker.

• Oahu Elepaio Chasiempis ibidis

  The Oahu Elepaio is a small flycatcher found only on Oahu. Hawaiʻi and U.S. federal listings classify it as endangered.

• Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris

  A sandpiper that breeds in northeastern Siberia and winters along coasts in Southeast Asia and Australia. Adults in breeding plumage have a breast band and orange-brown shoulder feathers.

• Stejneger's Scoter Melanitta stejnegeri

  Stejneger's Scoter is a diving duck with a prominent swelling at the base of the bill. It moves from northern breeding areas to Pacific coasts for winter.

• 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.

• Serendib Scops Owl Otus thilohoffmanni

  This small owl occurs in lowland forest in Sri Lanka. It is active at night and difficult to see while roosting by day.

• Black-billed Coucal Centropus bernsteini

  This medium-sized coucal skulks along lowland forest edges and grasslands, usually keeping to cover. It may perch in the open after rain.

• Ashy Prinia Prinia socialis

  The Ashy Prinia is a small prinia recorded widely across the Indian subcontinent. It uses open habitats such as gardens, farmland, thorn scrub, and grassland, feeding on invertebrates.

• Humblot's Heron Ardea humbloti

  Humblot's Heron is a large heron of shallow waters in western Madagascar and the Comoros. Its dark gray plumage is distinctive.

• Black-lored Babbler Turdoides sharpei

  This babbler lives in East African scrub, acacia thickets, and forest margins. It often forages in parties of four or five, from near the ground into trees. Its pale eye and black lores are useful field marks.

• 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.

• Black-rumped Waxbill Estrilda troglodytes

  The Black-rumped Waxbill is a small bird of tall grass and scrub. It mainly eats plant seeds, and adults have a red line behind the eye.

• Reeves's Pheasant Syrmaticus reevesii

  A pheasant endemic to China, living in evergreen forest and open woodland. It scratches leaf litter for seeds, berries, leaves, and invertebrates.

• Somali Starling Onychognathus blythii

  The Somali Starling occurs in northeastern Africa and on Socotra, using rocky hills and cliffs. The male is glossy black-purple with orange in the wings, while the female has a grey head and breast.

• Banded Martin Neophedina cincta

  The Banded Martin is a swallow of sub-Saharan Africa. It catches insects in flight over open grassland and freshwater habitats and makes north-south movements in response to rainfall.

• Golden-breasted Fruiteater Pipreola aureopectus

  This cotinga occurs in montane forest in Colombia and Venezuela. A Colombian regional account describes a green-backed male with a yellow chest and a female with yellow belly spots.

• Pine Siskin Spinus pinus

  The Pine Siskin is a small finch widespread in North America. In winter it moves widely in response to seed crops.

• Seychelles Kestrel Falco araeus

  This small falcon lives on islands in the Seychelles. It hunts insects and small vertebrates, including skinks and geckos.