Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• Hudsonian Whimbrel Numenius hudsonicus

  

  This shorebird breeds in Arctic North America and migrates as far south as South America. It searches mud and sand for crabs with its long curved bill.

• Crested Eagle Morphnus guianensis

  The Crested Eagle is a large raptor of mature forests and foothills in Central and South America. It often perches in the canopy and can be difficult to spot.

• Rusty-bellied Shortwing Brachypteryx hyperythra

  This shortwing has strongly different plumage in males and females. It lives in damp forest and dense undergrowth in the eastern Himalayas.

• Bee Hummingbird Mellisuga helenae

  The Bee Hummingbird is described as the world's smallest bird. Males have iridescent throat feathers, and the birds visit flowers for nectar in Cuba.

• Pale-eyed Pygmy Tyrant Atalotriccus pilaris

  This tiny tyrant flycatcher inhabits dry lowlands from Central America into northern South America. Its pale eye and yellow wing-bars help identify it.

• Plum-headed Parakeet Psittacula cyanocephala

  The Plum-headed Parakeet is notable for the male’s reddish-purple head and the female’s blue-grey head. It lives in South Asian woodland and nearby open or cultivated areas.

• Japanese green woodpecker Picus awokera

  A woodpecker found only in Japan, with a green back. It taps tree trunks for insects and also eats ants on the ground.

• Capped White-eye Zosterops fuscicapilla

  This white-eye is recorded in New Guinea, in forest and cultivated areas at about 1,200–2,100 m. This entry is limited to New Guinea Island records.

• Erckel's Francolin Pternistis erckelii

  Erckel's Francolin is a ground-dwelling bird of the highlands of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and northeastern Sudan. Pale markings show on its body.

• Sulu Hornbill Anthracoceros montani

  A hornbill with a black body and white tail, living in forests of the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines.

• Yellow-throated Bush Tanager Chlorospingus flavigularis

  This tanager is recorded in humid eastern Andean forests of Peru and Ecuador. The source describes the nominate subspecies.

• Equatorial Antpitta Grallaria saturata

  An Andean antpitta recorded at roughly 2,550–3,650 m. A 2020 study recognized these populations as G. saturata, separate from the G. rufula complex.

• Black-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus maximus

  The Black-nest Swiftlet is a small swift that feeds on flying insects and roosts communally in caves.

• White-throated Screech Owl Megascops albogularis

  This nocturnal owl is marked by a white throat and a streaked belly. It lives in high-elevation temperate forest and pairs may duet.

• White-billed Crow Corvus woodfordi

  The White-billed Crow has a large pale bill with a dark tip and glossy black plumage with a green sheen. It moves through rainforest singly, in pairs, or in small groups.

• Red-ruffed Fruitcrow Pyroderus scutatus

  This large cotinga inhabits humid montane forest on the eastern Andean slope. The Peruvian account describes it moving alone in the canopy.

• Western Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava

  A wagtail with a yellow underside and greenish back. It visits Britain in spring and summer and migrates to Africa for winter.

• Eastern Long-billed Lark Certhilauda semitorquata

  This lark inhabits grasslands in eastern South Africa, Lesotho, and western Eswatini. It searches the ground for arthropods, seeds, and corms. This entry follows the species split from the Long-billed Lark complex.

• Silvery Kingfisher Ceyx argentatus

  This small kingfisher lives along forest streams and ponds. Its dark blue back has a silvery-blue stripe, with white throat and belly markings and bright red legs.

• Common moorhen Gallinula chloropus

  A waterbird using rivers, ponds, rice fields and other wetlands.

• Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii

  A heron that searches for food in shallow water, with distinct breeding and nonbreeding plumages.

• Shore Dotterel Thinornis novaeseelandiae

  It is a coastal plover native to New Zealand’s Chatham Islands. Males have a black face and throat with white underparts.

• Montane Widowbird Euplectes psammacromius

  Males have yellow wing patches that can act as signals in territorial contests. In a field experiment in southern Tanzania, males whose patches were blackened more often lost territories or contests.

• Melodious Blackbird Dives dives

  This icterid occurs in Central America. Adult males are glossy black with a blue sheen, while females and young birds are duller. In Costa Rica it is seen in pairs or small groups.