Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• Nicaraguan Grackle Quiscalus nicaraguensis

  

  This grackle lives in marshes, lake edges, riverside areas, pastures, and flooded scrub. It travels and forages in groups ranging from small parties to large flocks. In Nicaragua, it also occurs along large-lake shores and nearby wetlands.

• Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis

  A small North American bird whose plumage varies from grey to brown by region, with white outer tail feathers that flash in flight.

• Spot-flanked Gallinule Porphyriops melanops

  Its grey head and breast, brown back and large white flank spots make it distinctive. It lives in ponds and marshes across much of South America and picks food from floating vegetation while swimming; the specific foods are not known from the source.

• Tanahjampea Monarch Symposiachrus everetti

  The Tanahjampea Monarch is restricted to one Indonesian island and uses lowland forest, mangroves and moist shrubland.

• Southern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialoides

  The Southern Fulmar is a seabird with pale plumage and a pink bill tipped in black. It nests on cliffs on islands in the Southern Ocean and searches for food near the sea surface.

• Blue-and-white Swallow Pygochelidon cyanoleuca

  This swallow flies over open habitats in South America and beyond. Its back is glossy dark blue and its belly white; in Argentina it catches insects over forests and water.

• Mexican Jay Aphelocoma wollweberi

  The Mexican Jay ranges from Mexico into the southwestern United States, inhabiting mountain woodlands in family groups.

• Banded Kingfisher Lacedo pulchella

  Males are blue, while females show orange-and-black barring, making the sexes look quite different. It perches and waits for prey in lowland and hill forests.

• Turkestan Short-toed Lark Alaudala heinei

  A small lark of open grassland from Turkey through Central Asia to southern Mongolia. It is partly migratory and is classified as an omnivore.

• White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus

  The White-tailed Hawk uses its broad wings to hang in the wind as it searches grasslands for prey.

• Fasciated Wren Campylorhynchus fasciatus

  This wren occurs in Peru and Ecuador. Its upperparts have pale and dark grey stripes; photographs may show a brownish cast. It is reported west of the Andes in the north, with records also east of the Andes farther south.

• Black Solitaire Entomodestes coracinus

  The Black Solitaire occurs in humid forests of the Chocó region of Colombia and Ecuador. Its black plumage contrasts with white cheek and breast tufts and red eyes.

• Plain-colored Tanager Tangara inornata

  A small tanager that moves through the canopy and forest edges. In Costa Rica it occurs in Caribbean lowlands, including along streams.

• Zanzibar Red Bishop Euplectes nigroventris

  A breeding-plumage male Zanzibar Red Bishop shows a red crown and forehead above mostly black underparts. It feeds on seeds in wet grass, and nest and female records are documented in Tanzania.

• Chestnut-backed Antshrike Thamnophilus palliatus

  The Chestnut-backed Antshrike is recorded from southeastern Peru through Bolivia and Brazil. It occurs at forest edges and in secondary growth.

• White-eared Tailorbird Orthotomus cinereiceps

  This resident bird occurs in the Philippines. BirdLife lists moist lowland forest as its main habitat and records it up to 1,000 m.

• Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant Stigmatura napensis

  This small tyrant-flycatcher often holds up its long, white-tipped tail. Along Peru’s Amazon, Ucayali and other rivers, it forages in young vegetation growing on river-created sites.

• Comoro Blue Pigeon Alectroenas sganzini

  The Comoro Blue Pigeon is a dark blue pigeon with a pale gray hood. It feeds in fruiting trees in wooded habitats and may fly in small flocks.

• White-rumped Swiftlet Aerodramus spodiopygius

  This small swiftlet occurs in Melanesia and Polynesia and uses moist forests and caves.

• Musk Duck Biziura lobata

  The Musk Duck occurs only in Australia. It dives in deep freshwater lakes and lagoons to search for food underwater.

• Clapperton's Francolin Pternistis clappertoni

  This francolin lives in sub-Saharan Africa, using grassland and dry scrub among other open habitats. It may be seen in groups and eats seeds, berries, insects, and molluscs.

• Swinhoe's Minivet Pericrocotus cantonensis

  In Hong Kong, Swinhoe's Minivet is recorded as a rare spring and autumn passage migrant. The regional bird account reports it singly or in small groups at wooded sites, and describes different plumage in males and females. It gives no local diet records.

• Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis

  An adult Asian Glossy Starling is dark green-black with red eyes. It eats fruit and insects and is often seen in flocks.

• White-throated Nightjar Eurostopodus mystacalis

  Streaked in black, brown, grey, and fawn, it blends into leaves and twigs by day and catches insects near the ground at night. It occurs in eastern Australia's coastal forests and woodlands.