Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• Red-breasted Meadowlark Leistes militaris

  

  A breeding-plumaged male shows a red throat and chest against dark plumage; the breeding female is more buff and streaked, with a duller red breast. The species searches for food on the ground.

• Plain-winged Woodcreeper Dendrocincla turdina

  This woodcreeper has olive-brown upperparts and a reddish-brown tail. In forests of eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina, researchers also recorded it foraging with groups of monkeys.

• Brown-headed Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera danae

  The Brown-headed Paradise Kingfisher lives in moist forest in southeastern New Guinea. Adult males have a brown head and back, pink underparts, and long tail feathers.

• Slaty Finch Haplospiza rustica

  Male Slaty Finches are lead-gray with a long, pointed bill. The species occurs from Central to South America and feeds mainly on bamboo seeds at moist highland forest edges.

• Slaty-blue Flycatcher Ficedula tricolor

  This small flycatcher lives in the Himalayas and nearby foothills. It searches for insects in forest undergrowth and thickets; some birds move to lower elevations outside the breeding season.

• African Swamphen Porphyrio madagascariensis

  This wetland bird has long legs, a red bill and frontal shield, and a blue-violet body. It feeds on plant material in slow-moving waters with tall aquatic vegetation.

• White-crested Elaenia Elaenia albiceps

  A white crown, olive-grey back and pale wing bars identify this flycatcher. In Chile it occurs from the north of the country to Magallanes, in woods, scrub and gardens.

• Purplish-backed Jay Cyanocorax beecheii

  The Purplish-backed Jay is a jay of dry woodland and scrub on Mexico's northwestern coast. Its blue-purple body and black head are distinctive.

• Green Racket-tail Prioniturus luconensis

  A mostly green parrot with black, spatula-shaped tips on its tail feathers. It uses lowland forest and forest edges in the northern Philippines.

• Black-collared Bulbul Neolestes torquatus

  The Black-collared Bulbul has a dark band that forms a collar and lives in pairs in tall grassland with scattered trees.

• Green-throated Sunbird Chalcomitra rubescens

  The adult male has a green crown and a black band across the forehead. The species uses forest edges and clearings, farms, plantations and village gardens, feeding on nectar as well as small insects and fruit. Cameroon is one country listed in the profile's range.

• Black-spotted Bare-eye Phlegopsis nigromaculata

  This antbird lives in Amazonian forest. It forages in the understory and sometimes follows columns of army ants.

• Pale-headed Brush Finch Atlapetes pallidiceps

  A 2003 paper described this brush-finch as confined to one valley in southern Ecuador and reported variation in adult head markings.

• Santarem Parakeet Pyrrhura amazonum

  The bird described as the Santarém Conure is a small, mostly green parakeet with a blue band before the eye and reddish patches on the belly and tail.

• Brown-capped Whitestart Myioborus brunniceps

  The Brown-capped Whitestart is an Andean bird with a rufous crown and yellow underparts. It ranges from Bolivia to northwestern Argentina.

• Ladder-backed Woodpecker Dryobates scalaris

  This small woodpecker lives in dry places in the southwestern United States. Its back has black-and-white bars that resemble a ladder.

• Purple-backed Thornbill Ramphomicron microrhynchum

  This small hummingbird uses the canopy and subcanopy of Andean forests. Male and female plumage and tail shape differ.

• Great Swallow-tailed Swift Panyptila sanctihieronymi

  This swift has long, narrow wings and a deeply forked tail. It catches insects on the wing over highlands and builds a long, hanging tubular nest.

• Príncipe Speirops Zosterops leucophaeus

  This species occurs on Príncipe, where it joins mixed flocks in forests and plantations. Its pale head and underside help distinguish it from the darker Príncipe White-eye.

• Black Skimmer Rynchops niger

  The Black Skimmer is a waterbird of American coasts, estuaries, and lagoons. It catches small fish by flying just above the water with its longer lower bill cutting the surface.

• White-collared Pigeon Columba albitorques

  The White-collared Pigeon lives in the highlands of Eritrea and Ethiopia. It has a white collar on the back of its neck and makes daily movements between feeding and roosting sites.

• Wood Duck Aix sponsa

  A colorful duck that perches in trees and nests in tree cavities near water.

• Santa Marta Screech Owl Megascops gilesi

  This owl was recorded in humid forest at 1,800–2,500 m on the San Lorenzo ridge of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia.

• Common Squirrel-cuckoo Piaya cayana

  This cuckoo ranges from northeastern Mexico to northern Argentina in the tropics. It moves through trees with its long tail as it searches for insects.