Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,824 · Stories: 19,540

• Amethyst Woodstar Calliphlox amethystina

  

  The Amethyst Woodstar is a small hummingbird recorded widely in South America. A male’s throat can be iridescent purple in breeding plumage and much duller outside that period.

• Shovel-billed Kingfisher Clytoceyx rex

  A large kingfisher recorded in montane forest of New Guinea. It digs for invertebrates on the forest floor with its stout bill.

• Fischer's Starling Lamprotornis fischeri

  This starling lives in wooded savanna and dry open thornveld in East Africa. It forages on the ground for insects and berries, in pairs or small flocks.

• Black Lark Melanocorypha yeltoniensis

  A lark of dry Central Asian steppe. Males are conspicuously black, and a study in Kazakhstan recorded nests on the ground.

• Ahanta Francolin Pternistis ahantensis

  The Ahanta Francolin is a ground-dwelling bird of forest edges, regrowth, and streamside thickets in West Africa. Its chestnut plumage is patterned.

• Short-tailed Pygmy Tyrant Myiornis ecaudatus

  The Short-tailed Pygmy Tyrant has a grey crown and a very short tail. In Amazonia it forages in the midstory and subcanopy of mature forest and tall second growth.

• Brown Teal Anas chlorotis

  The Brown Teal is endemic to New Zealand. Breeding males show a green sheen on the head and a dark chestnut breast; the species is now mostly restricted to the northern North Island.

• Nkulengu Rail Himantornis haematopus

  The Nkulengu Rail walks through dense vegetation beside streams in lowland rainforest.

• Vinaceous Dove Streptopelia vinacea

  The Vinaceous Dove is marked by a black patch on the back of the neck edged in white, with a pale pink-grey head and breast. It uses dry scrub and savanna south of the Sahara, foraging on the ground for seeds and other vegetation.

• Rinjani Scops Owl Otus jolandae

  This scops owl is known from around Mount Rinjani on Lombok. Researchers heard it in undisturbed forest, degraded forest, and beside quiet roads.

• Yellow-billed Magpie Pica nutallii

  This magpie is confined to California. Its black-and-white plumage has blue-green iridescence, and its bill is yellow. It lives in open oak woodland and grassy oak savanna, often near plains, orchards or fields.

• Tawny-shouldered Blackbird Agelaius humeralis

  The Tawny-shouldered Blackbird is widespread in Cuba and is also recorded in northern and west-central Haiti. It occurs at forest edges and in open places, including gardens.

• Purple Sunbird Cinnyris asiaticus

  The Purple Sunbird is small; breeding males are bluish-black, while females are olive-brown above and pale yellow below.

• White-naped Yuhina Yuhina bakeri

  A white-eye of the eastern Himalayas and nearby regions. A Bhutan government report describes a stout bill, rufous crest, white nape, and a pale, finely streaked breast.

• Ringed Woodpecker Celeus torquatus

  The Ringed Woodpecker is a forest woodpecker of the Amazon basin. It has black and pale bars across the back and a cinnamon-colored head.

• Coastal Cisticola Cisticola haematocephalus

  A cisticola of East African wetlands and moist grassland. It has a streaked back and a relatively long tail.

• Japanese Thrush Turdus cardis

  A thrush that visits mountain forests north of Kyushu; females have browner flanks.

• Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria

  The Lesser Goldfinch is a small finch with yellow, green, and black plumage. Flocks gather in trees and yards for seeds, and the species ranges from the western United States to the Peruvian Andes.

• Blackstart Oenanthe melanura

  The Blackstart is a grey-brown wheatear with a conspicuous black tail. It lives in rocky deserts and mountains and nests in rock crevices.

• Olive Sparrow Arremonops rufivirgatus

  The Olive Sparrow forages on the ground in dense thorn scrub, staying close to cover. In the United States it is limited to southern Texas, and it also occurs in Mexico and Central America.

• Pale-rumped Swift Chaetura egregia

  The Pale-rumped Swift is marked by pale rump and upper-tail coverts that contrast with its dark back and tail. It flies over continuous Amazonian forest.

• Crane Hawk Geranospiza caerulescens

  In the Argentine account, the Crane Hawk is a raptor that walks through wetlands, grasslands, and woodland while searching for food. It has a bluish-gray back and gray-and-white barring.

• White-fronted Honeyeater Purnella albifrons

  This honeyeater lives in arid and semi-arid scrub and woodland. It feeds mainly on nectar, but also takes insects and honeydew.

• Bahama Warbler Setophaga flavescens

  This warbler occurs on Grand Bahama and Abaco in the Bahamas. A 2018 survey on Grand Bahama recorded birds searching pine trunks and palm leaves for small invertebrates.