Short-toed snake-eagles have a wide distribution in SW Europe and NW Africa, N to the Gulf of Finland, and E to Central Asia. There are sedentray populations on the Indian Subcontinent. They are habitat generalists and thrive in dense forest and semi-desert. (Pankaj Ratna)

Red bishops are common residents in wetlands and open grasslands south of the Equator. They ae know to roost in their thousands in reedbeds and isoltaed groves of trees. (Sue-Lesley Norgate)

Malachite kingfishers are a relatively common sight along the rivers and waterways of Africa south of the Sahara. (Jay van Rensburg)

Nilgiri blue flycatchers are an Old World flycatcher with a very restricted range in the hills of S India. (Kiran Kumar)

White-throated swallow are common residents in southern Africa that have benefited from the increased nesting habitat provided by the construction of bridges and dams. (Jay van Rensburg)

White-rumped munias are indigenous to tropical continental Asia and some of the adjacent islands. They were introduced to and have become naturalized in parts of Japan. (Gururaj Moorching)

Gentoo penguins are found all along the Antarctic Peninsula and are considered “Near Threatened” after massive declines in the global population over the last 25 years. (Elliot Neep / www.oryxphotography.com)

Acacia pied barbets are found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where they drill holes into dead wood to create nest cavities. (Richard & Eileen Flack)

Mountain imperial pigeons are found in Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. They prefer subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, mangroves and moist montane forests. (Anantha Murthy)

Cape cormorants are endemic to the SW coastline of Africa where they forage for schooling fish 5-10m below the surface (e.g. pilchards, anchovies and sandeels). (Bianca Preusker)

Black-winged stilts have a wide global distribution and prefer marshes, shallow lakes, floodplain margins, and ponds. Several populations are migratory and move to the coastline in winter, but those in warmer regions are resident or, at most, short-range vagrants. Photographed here in Parco del Ticino (Italy). (Fabio Usvardi)

Cape sugarbirds are among the 6 bird species endemic to the Fynbos biome of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa where they are a common sight. (Richard & Eileen Flack)

Egyptian geese are actually large duck and are locally abundant throughout Africa, only avoiding the deserts and dense forests. (Chris Martin / www.chrismartin.co)

Crested auklets are distributed throughout the N Pacific and Bering Sea, feeding by diving into deep waters to catch krill and small marine invertebrates. They nest in large, dense colonies of up to 1 million in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk. (Adam Riley / www.rockjumperbirding.com)

Yellow-billed storks are indigenous to Africa S of the Sahara and Madagascar. They are very similar to the painted storks of Asia. (Adam Riley / www.rockjumperbirding.com)

Vernal hanging parrots are native to the Indian Subcontinent and parts of SE Asia. Local movements are driven mainly by the availability of fruit, seeds, buds and blossoms. (Pranesh Kodancha)

Yellow-eyed babblers are gregarious and found in small groups in the open grass and scrub of S Asia. (Subramanya Madhyastha)

Crimson-backed sunbirds are endemic to the W Ghats of India, and are particularly attracted to gardens on the edge of forested areas. (Subramanya Madhyastha)

“Solo Skimmer”. Black skimmers breed in North and South America. They are the largest of the three skimmer species and well-known for dipping the lower mandible into the water when feeding…(David Lychenheim)

Black-throated bushtits are distributed from the foothills of the Himalayas from N India to Nepal, Bhutan, N Burma, Vietnam and Taiwan. (Shailesh Sharma)

Tickell’s blue flycatchers breed in tropical Asia from the Indian Subcontinent E to SE Asia, preferring dense scrub and forests. (Saminathan Babu)

The little-known blue-throated barbet are found across the Indian Subcontinent and SE Asia. (Ripan Biswas)

White-eared barbets are resident cavity-nesters in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. (Rene Rossouw)

California quails are predominantly found in the SW United States, but have now been introduced into British Columbia, Hawaii, Chile and New Zealand, as well as Norfolk and King Islands (Australia). (Owen Deutsch)

Indian coursers are widespread in S Asia, preferring dry stony, scrubby or rocky landscapes from the Indus valley E almost all the way to Bangladesh, as well as S to the tip of Peninsular India. (Mohamed Mothi)