Species
*Sources for information and photos (unless they were taken by me) can be found at the bottom of each species profile or in photo captions.
A collection of animal species from around the world.
Red Avadavat
The breeding plumage of a male red avadavat is a deep scarlet, flecked with dots of white — the species is also known as the “strawberry finch.” To court a female, a male bows deeply and repeatedly, holding a blade of grass or feather in his beak.
Cave Angel Fish
The cave angel is a pale and eyeless fish endemic to a few limestone caves in northwestern Thailand. It’s the only known living fish with a pelvic girdle fused to its spine — structurally similar to early land vertebrates — giving it the ability to “walk” up waterfalls.
White-rumped Vulture
The white-rumped vulture was once India’s most common vulture — and perhaps the most numerous large bird of prey in the world. But between the mid-1990s and 2006, its population plummeted by 99.9%, and it’s now considered critically endangered.
Asian Koel
The Asian koel is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. The species is also sexually dimorphic: males are dark-feathered goths, while females are boldly streaked in brown and white.
Saola
The saola — often called the "Asian unicorn" — is endemic to the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam. Discovered by science in 1992, it has never been directly observed alive by researchers in the wild and may number fewer than 100 individuals.
Owston's Civet
Owston's civet is a cryptic creature from the Annamite Mountains, straddling the border of Vietnam and Laos. With its skinny snout, it sniffs and searches through leaf litter for its favourite food: earthworms.
Asian Openbill
The Asian openbill uses its "open bill" to locate and grab its favourite prey — freshwater snails — using the sharp tip of its curved, lower mandible to extract them from their shells. It is a common species of stork throughout South and Southeast Asia.
Coppersmith Barbet
The coppersmith barbet — a small bird about 16 cm (~6 in) long — often falls victim to bullying by other birds. Blue-throated barbets have been observed evicting coppersmiths from nesting holes, while red-vented bulbuls steal berries from male coppersmiths that are trying to feed their mates.
Black Drongo
The black drongo keeps its neighbourhood clear of predators by fearlessly assailing them — as a result, other birds like orioles, doves, babblers, and bulbuls like to nest near the drongo. But the drongo is also a trickster, mimicking the calls of raptors to scare birds into abandoning their food.
