Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• Least Boobook Ninox sumbaensis

  

  This small owl was described from Sumba, Indonesia. The original study recorded it in places where forest remained.

• Andean Gull Chroicocephalus serranus

  This medium-sized gull changes its head pattern between breeding and non-breeding plumage. It uses Andean lakes and rivers; in Chile, some move down to the coast in winter.

• Grey-headed Sunbird Deleornis axillaris

  This green sunbird occurs from northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to western Uganda. The account also notes one record from northwestern Tanzania. It searches for insects, spiders and small fruits in the middle and upper forest levels.

• Boat-tailed Grackle Quiscalus major

  The Boat-tailed Grackle is a coastal bird with striking differences between the sexes. Males are blue-black with extremely long tails, while females are much smaller and dark brown.

• Black-chinned Sparrow Spizella atrogularis

  This small sparrow breeds on rocky hillsides in the southwestern United States and winters in Mexico. It forages on the ground but does not stay in the open for long.

• Mangrove Rail Rallus longirostris

  The Mangrove Rail is a rail of scattered coastal sites in Central and South America, where it uses mangroves and salty wetlands. It probes shallow mud and water with its long bill.

• Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone mutata

  On Madagascar, this flycatcher hunts insects and spiders in forests, edges, and gardens. Males change from a red immature plumage to a white adult morph, and their central tail feathers lengthen during breeding.

• Providence Petrel Pterodroma solandri

  The Providence Petrel ranges over open water from the southwest Pacific to the North Pacific and Bering Sea. It breeds only on Lord Howe Island and Phillip Island in the Norfolk Island group.

• White-tailed Swallow Hirundo megaensis

  A swallow restricted to southern Ethiopia's Acacia–Commiphora woodland. A study recorded many nests in homes occupied by villagers.

• Southern Nutcracker Nucifraga hemispila

  The Southern Nutcracker is a corvid of Himalayan forests. It has chestnut plumage with white spots on the head and neck. Gould’s 1831 species account places it in thick woods and lists insects, worms, and fruit as food.

• Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis

  A black-and-white kingfisher with a long bill. It can hover over water while searching for fish.

• Dusky Lark Pinarocorys nigricans

  This lark migrates from breeding areas in central Africa to southern Africa. It forages on the ground in open savanna and woodland, eating insects and some seeds.

• Tiny Hawk Microspizias superciliosus

  This small hawk inhabits humid lowland forest from Central America into South America. Fine barring and a long banded tail mark its shape; it hunts small birds, including hummingbirds.

• Inca Wren Pheugopedius eisenmanni

  A wren of humid mountain forest in southern Peru, marked by a white eyebrow and barred tail.

• Glossy-black Thrush Turdus serranus

  The Glossy-black Thrush lives in humid Andean mountain forests. Adult males are glossy black, while females are brownish, making the sexes look quite different.

• Eyebrowed Hemispingus Thlypopsis superciliaris

  This tanager forages in the canopy of humid Andean forest, often with mixed-species flocks. Plumage varies geographically; the description here is limited to birds from southern Cusco toward Bolivia.

• White-headed Buffalo Weaver Dinemellia dinemelli

  The White-headed Buffalo Weaver is a stocky bird with a white head and brown back that forages on the ground near acacia trees.

• Harlequin Antbird Rhegmatorhina berlepschi

  This antbird occurs in forested parts of southern Amazonia. In places where it meets the related Rhegmatorhina hoffmannsi, studies report geographic variation in throat and chest color.

• Brown-headed Apalis Apalis alticola

  This small bird inhabits mid- to high-elevation forest in central and eastern Africa. A Tanzanian regional account notes a dark brown crown, grey outer tail feathers, and white tail tips.

• Large Elaenia Elaenia spectabilis

  This South American flycatcher has three white wing bars and a weak or absent crest. In Bolivia it is recorded in woodland, second growth and forest edges, where it takes insects and fruit.

• Polynesian Imperial Pigeon Ducula aurorae

  The Polynesian Imperial Pigeon is a large pigeon still recorded on Makatea in French Polynesia. Adults have a pale grey head and green-glossed blue back, and they feed on fruit.

• Lesser Antillean Swift Chaetura martinica

  The Lesser Antillean Swift flies over montane forest in the Lesser Antilles. It catches small insects in flight.

• New Zealand Scaup Aythya novaeseelandiae

  The New Zealand Scaup is a diving duck. Large flocks can gather along lakeshores, sometimes close to people.

• Red-billed Francolin Pternistis adspersus

  The Red-billed Francolin is a ground-dwelling bird with yellow around the eyes and a red bill and legs. By day it uses dry savanna and thickets near water, eating plant and animal foods.