Posted by Steve Boyes of National Geographic Expeditions in Explorers Journal on February 10, 2014
Painted buntings are fairly common finches that breed in the coastal SE and S-central US. They are considered Near Threatened due to illegal capture for the wild-caught bird trade. (Steve Sober)
Yellow-billed hornbills are dustributed across most of S Africa in the dry Acacia and broad-leaved woodlands. (Anja Denker)
Great frigatebird have major nesting populations in the Pacific (including Galapagos Islands) and Indian Ocean, as well as a population in the South Atlantic. (Sjoerd van Berge Henegouwen)
Rosy-faced lovebirds are found in the drier, more open landscapes in SW Africa from SW Angola across most of Namibia to the lower Orange River valley in NW South Africa. (Anja Denker)
Crimson-rumped toucanets are a stunning sighting in the humid Andean forests of Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. (Sjoerd van Berge Henegouwen)
White-necked jacobins are found in Mexico all the way S to Peru, Bolivia and S Brazil. (Sjoerd van Berge Henegouwen)
Violet-backed or plum-colored starlings are sexually dimorphic and breed in the E part of South Africa, Zimbabawe, Zambia, Namibia, and Mozambique. (Chris Krog)
Black-capped monarchs are resident breeders across tropical S Asia from India and Sri Lanka all the way E to Indonesia and the Philippines. (Ritesh Nangare)
Asian paradise flycatchers inhabit the thick forested areas from Turkestan to Manchuria, all over India and Sri Lanka to the Malay Archipelago on the islands of Sumba and Alor. (Ritesh Nangare)
Sarus cranes are the tallest flying bird standing at a height of up to 1.8m an are found in parts of the Indian Subcontinent, SE Asia and Australia. (Ravikumar Rampa)
Spotted owlets breed in tropical Asia from India to SE Asia where they have established themselves in urban and peri-urban environment. (Pratibha Riswadkar)
Black redstarts are a widespread breeder in S and central Europe and Asia, as well as NW Africa all the way to Great Britain and Ireland via Morocco all the way E to central China. (Pradyuman Samant)
Giant antpittas are a sought-after sighting in Colombia and Ecuador. (Owen Deutsch / owendeutsch.com)
Blue-tailed bee-eaters are strongly migratory preferring to breed in SE Asia and then fly seasonally to much of peninsular India. (Nithya Purushothaman)
Mottled wood owls are found in open areas or lightly-wooded areas throughout India all the way to W Bengal, but have disappeared from Pakistan. (Gopal Prasad)
Tawny frogmouth are found throughout Australia, Tasmania and S New Guinea. This ancient family have been around for at least 56 million years. (Deborah Pearse)
Black skimmers are the largest of the three skimmer species, and breed breeds in small colonies on sandbanks and sandy beaches throughout N and S America. (Kelly Hunt)
Black-crowned night herons breed in fresh and salt-water wetlands throughout the world and have one of the widest distributions of any heron species. (Kelly Hunt)
Laughing kookaburras are indigenous to E Australia, but have been introduced to parts of New Zealand, Tasmania and W Australia. (Lennart Hessel)
Rainbow lorikeets are found in Australia, E Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. (Lennart Hessel)
Madagascar paradise flycatchers are found in the subtropical or tropical dry or tropical moist lowland forests of the Comoros, Madagascar and Mayotte. (Markus Lilje / www.rockjumperbirding.com)
Gentoo penguins breed on several sub-Antarctic islands with the main colonies on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Kerguelen Islands. (Nina Stavlund)
Snowy owls breed in the 24-hour daylight of the Arctic tundra of N Alaska, Canada, and Eurasia, wintering S of the Arctic Circle through Canada and N Eurasia. (Christina Anne McCallum)
Acacia pied barbets prefer the semi-arid savanna, grasslands, fynbos, and some agricultural areas in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. (Allan Holland)
Cape batis are found in the highlands of S and E South Africa and Zimbabwe. (Richard & Eileen Flack / www.theflacks.co.za)
