Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• Blue-winged Laughingthrush Trochalopteron squamatum

  

  The Blue-winged Laughingthrush uses forest undergrowth and bamboo in the Himalayas, from Nepal to southern China and nearby areas. Records are mainly from 900–2,440 m.

• Javan Woodcock Scolopax saturata

  The Javan Woodcock inhabits damp montane forests of Java and Sumatra. It probes the forest floor with its long bill, and observations on Java recorded display behaviour at dawn and dusk.

• Newell's Shearwater Puffinus newelli

  This seabird breeds in the Hawaiian Islands. It has a dark back and white underparts, nests in the island highlands, and catches squid and fish at sea.

• Indian Jungle Crow Corvus culminatus

  This crow is recorded from southern peninsular India and Sri Lanka. ITIS, citing the IOC checklist, lists it as a species, while Clements 2024 keeps it among the subspecies of the Large-billed Crow. This entry describes the southern form in an older regional account.

• African Pygmy Kingfisher Ispidina picta

  The African Pygmy Kingfisher is a small kingfisher widespread south of the Sahara. It eats insects more often than fish and searches for prey from a perch.

• Cut-throat Finch Amadina fasciata

  The Cut-throat Finch is a small finch occurring in separate areas along the Sahel and in southern Africa. It forages on the ground for seeds and termites. Males have a red throat band.

• Peruvian Racket-tail Ocreatus peruanus

  The Peruvian Racket-tail lives in humid mountain forest and along forest edges on the eastern Andes. Males have elongated tail feathers and leg puffs; it feeds on nectar and small insects.

• Greater Hoopoe-Lark Alaemon alaudipes

  The Greater Hoopoe-Lark is a desert bird with sandy plumage, a long tail, and a down-curved bill. It is usually seen alone or in pairs.

• Long-tailed Parakeet Psittacula longicauda

  The Long-tailed Parakeet has a tail longer than its body and moves in flocks, calling to one another.

• Large-billed Seed Finch Sporophila crassirostris

  It has a large, thick bill for its body size. The male is almost entirely black with a white wing patch and ivory bill; the female is brown above and buffier below. In Colombia it forages mainly for grass seeds in tall grass near water.

• Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena

  A blue-black back, rusty throat and long forked tail help identify it. It catches insects in flight and builds mud-and-grass nests on structures such as bridges or buildings.

• Rufous Nightjar Antrostomus rufus

  The Rufous Nightjar is a nocturnal bird with rufous plumage.

• White-browed Hawk Leucopternis kuhli

  This hawk lives in lowlands south of the Amazon River. A study between Brazil's Madeira and Purus rivers recorded its nesting and plumage.

• Austral Blackbird Curaeus curaeus

  This blackbird occurs in Chile and Argentina. It uses woodland, scrub, fields, and towns, and searches on the ground for small animals and plant foods.

• Little Gull Hydrocoloeus minutus

  The world's smallest gull. In breeding plumage it has a black head and dark underwings; it flies low over water to catch insects and small fish.

• Eastern Screech-Owl Megascops asio

  The Eastern Screech-Owl is a small owl that hides in tree cavities and nest boxes. It lives in woods, suburbs, and parks east of the Rocky Mountains, and its calls can be heard at night.

• Carruthers's Cisticola Cisticola carruthersi

  Males have a rich rusty head and nape, a dark softly mottled back with blackish edges, gray underparts, and a dark tail with white tips and bars. A 2006 survey recorded it as one of the most abundant species in three western Kenyan papyrus swamps.

• White-faced Starling Sturnornis albofrontatus

  The White-faced Starling is endemic to Sri Lanka and has a white face with glossy black-green wings. It searches for fruit and nectar high in the canopy of wet forest.

• Shelley's Francolin Scleroptila shelleyi

  Shelley’s Francolin lives in grassy woodland and rocky areas of eastern and southern Africa. Its white throat, reddish-brown breast markings, and black-and-white barred belly help identify it.

• Allen's Gallinule Porphyrio alleni

  This wetland bird resembles a large purple-and-green moorhen. It is patchily distributed across sub-Saharan Africa and feeds mainly on plants, with invertebrates and fish also recorded.

• Banded Woodpecker Chrysophlegma miniaceum

  This woodpecker has a reddish-brown back and a yellow-orange crest. It forages in the middle canopy for ant and termite nests hidden on trees.

• Dark-rumped Rosefinch Carpodacus edwardsii

  In the Chinese records summarized here, the Dark-rumped Rosefinch occurs in small groups among rhododendron and bamboo undergrowth. Males are redder, while females are mainly brown.

• Blue-winged Goose Cyanochen cyanoptera

  The Blue-winged Goose is restricted to the Ethiopian Highlands and has blue-gray wing panels on a gray-brown body. It grazes near rivers and ponds and spends much of the year in flocks.

• Orange-fronted Fruit Dove Ptilinopus aurantiifrons

  The Orange-fronted Fruit Dove lives in lowlands near the coast of New Guinea. It has a large orange patch on the forehead and a grey collar, and mainly eats fruit.