Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,676 · Stories: 19,540

• Cuban Pygmy Owl Glaucidium siju

  

  The Cuban Pygmy Owl has brown upperparts, pale underparts, and two dark spots on the back of its head. It hunts by day as well as at night.

• Virginia Rail Rallus limicola

  Virginia Rails forage by probing shallow water and mud in marshes, where emergent plants such as cattails and bulrushes provide cover.

• Purple-throated Woodstar Calliphlox mitchellii

  Its main range is western Colombia and western Ecuador. The male has a glittering purple throat; the female lacks that purple throat. Residency in eastern Panama is presumed from two female specimens.

• Unicolored Antwren Myrmotherula unicolor

  The Unicolored Antwren occurs in the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil. It searches leaves for food and also probes creases in dead foliage for small arthropods.

• Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria

  The Solitary Sandpiper has a prominent white eye-ring and a black-and-white tail. It walks in shallow water, frequently bobbing the rear of its body.

• Vernal Hanging Parrot Loriculus vernalis

  A small parrot that feeds in forest canopies on fruit, berries, figs, nectar, and seeds. It nests in tree hollows.

• Sharp-billed Treehunter Heliobletus contaminatus

  This small bird lives in evergreen forest in South America. A broad pale-golden eyebrow and a dark stripe behind it help identify it.

• White-lined Honeyeater Territornis albilineata

  A 1967 Northern Territory list records it on the Arnhem Land Plateau and in sandstone ranges and canyons, especially near fruiting trees such as figs. A separate banding guide says adult males and females do not differ in plumage.

• Standard-winged Nightjar Caprimulgus longipennis

  The Standard-winged Nightjar is an African migrant whose breeding males grow long ornamental wing feathers.

• Tui Parakeet Brotogeris sanctithomae

  The Tui Parakeet is a green parrot with a yellow patch on its forehead. It occurs in several parts of South America and uses wooded habitats near water.

• Striated Yuhina Yuhina castaniceps

  The Striated Yuhina moves through the middle storey and undergrowth, sometimes in groups with other birds. The account also uses Staphida and notes subspecies differences in crest colour.

• Black-tailed gull Larus crassirostris

  A gull seen on Japanese coasts through much of the year, with a catlike call.

• Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis

  A North American diving duck. Males are mainly black and white, females are brown, and the back of the head has a small peak.

• 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.

• Southern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx ruficollis

  The Southern Rough-winged Swallow catches insects in flight over open country and near water in Central and South America.

• Green-backed Camaroptera Camaroptera brachyura

  The Green-backed Camaroptera is a small, rounded bird of thickets, with red eyes. The eastern coastal group is green-backed, while birds elsewhere are gray-backed; some authorities treat the groups as separate species.

• Red-chested Sunbird Cinnyris erythrocercus

  This sunbird occurs in East-Central Africa. Dave Richards's 2013 Wildlife of East Africa guide uses the former genus name Nectarinia erythrocerca and describes waterside habitat and different male and female plumage.

• Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas

  The Common Yellowthroat is a small bird that searches low vegetation for insects and spiders. Adult males and females have different facial markings.

• Magellanic Woodpecker Campephilus magellanicus

  The Magellanic Woodpecker searches for food on tree trunks in Patagonian forests. The male gives resonant blows on hollow trunks.

• Andean Siskin Spinus spinescens

  A yellowish finch of the Andes, often found in flocks at forest edges and in páramo. The black head marking of females varies between northern and southern populations.

• Javan Bulbul Ixos virescens

  The Javan Bulbul is a bulbul of Java's highland forests. Its long, slender bill and olive-colored back and wings are distinctive.

• Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus

  In introduced North American populations, males have a red face and white neck ring, while females are brown. They search the ground for seeds and insects.

• Northern Red Bishop Euplectes franciscanus

  The Northern Red Bishop changes markedly in the male's breeding plumage. Flocks feed mainly on seeds in wet grasslands and marshes.

• Black-browed Fulvetta Alcippe grotei

  This small bird has a gray head and shoulders, a black eyebrow, rufescent back, and pale underparts. It searches for insects in evergreen and secondary forest, sometimes joining mixed flocks.