Rainbow lorikeets are an Australasian parrot found in Australia, E Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. (Peter Pischler)

Purple herons breed in Africa, central and S Europe, and S and E Asia. Only the European populations are migratory, wintering in tropical Africa. (Allan Holland)

Lesser Birds-of-paradise are distributed throughout the forests of N New Guinea, and the nearby islands of Misool and Yapen. They are widespread and common throughout their vast distributional range, (Peter Pischler)

African openbills form massive spiraling flocks that cover great distances in the thermals in search of suitable floodplains in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. (Anja Denker)

Blue-tailed bee-eaters breed in SE Asia and are strongly migratory, moving to peninsular India. (Atanu Mondal)

Barn owls are the most widely distributed species of owl on earth, and one of the most widespread of all birds. (Ajay Tharavath)

Carmine bee-eaters breed in massive colonies along river banks and gullies. They occur across sub-equatorial Africa from KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) and Namibia to Gabon, E Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya. (Celesta von Chamier)

Tawny eagles will kill small mammals up to the size of a rabbit, reptiles and birds up to the size of a chicken. They will also steal food from other raptors. (Peter Pischler)

Keel-billed toucans can be found from S Mexico to Venezuela and Colombia, preferring roost sites in the high canopies of tropical, subtropical, and lowland rainforests (up to altitudes of 1,900m). (Nina Stavlund)

European blue tits The blue tit prefer insects and spiders, but switch to seeds and other vegetable-based foods outside the breeding season. They can cling to the outermost branches and hang upside down when looking for food. (Lennart Hessell)

Meyer's parrots are distributed throughout most of subtropical Africa with a preference for seasonally dry savanna bushveld associated with riverine forest galleries. (Kevin Sutton)

Brown-hooded kingfishers are found in the forests of Angola, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Photographed here with a locust. (Peter Pischler)

African stonechats have a scattered distribution across much of sub-Saharan Africa, occurring locally as far north as Senegal and Ethiopia. Outlying populations are found in the mountains of SW Arabia, as well as Madagascar and Grande Comore. They are non-migratory with limited local movements. (Rodnick Clifton Biljon)

Siberian stonechats breed in Russia and occasionally as far west as Finland, wintering in S Japan, Thailand and India with some as far west as NE Africa. (Srikanth K Iyengar)

Purple-rumped sunbirds are common resident breeder in S India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, where they habitat types with trees, including scrub and cultivated land. They are usually absent from dense forest. (Atanu Mondal)

Common moorhens fledge after 40–50 days in the nest and become independent within a few weeks and may raise their first brood the next spring. (Lennart Hessell)

Golden pheasants are native to forests in mountainous areas of W China, but feral populations have been established in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. They are commonly found in zoos and aviaries. (Claire Hamilton)

Yellow morph of crimson-breasted shrike can be a common sight when you start seeing them, and was at first thought to be a separate species... (Celesta von Chamier)

The Hoopoe is widespread in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Most European and N Asian birds migrate to the tropics in winter, but the African populations are all sedentary. The species has even been a vagrant in Alaska. (Atanu Mondal)

Southern yellow-billed hornbills feed predominantly on the ground, where they forage for seeds, small insects, spiders and scorpions. Termites and ants are a preferred food source in the dry season. (Rodnick Clifton Biljon)

White-faced whistling ducks are so named for their whistling call as they fly off together. They breed in sub-Saharan Africa and much of South America. (Nobby Clarke)

Vultures around the world are dying out due to poisoning and lack of suitable food resources. Poachers in Africa have started to target them, as they give away the location of their illegal poaching camps. (Kevin Sutton)

Bateleurs are medium-sized raptors that are common residents of open savanna throughout Sub-Saharan Africa with a small population in SW Arabia. (Harvey Grohman)

Red-eyed bulbuls are near endemic to southern Africa with marginal extensions to S Angola and Zambia. In southern Africa it is common across Namibia, Botswana, and central South Africa, where they prefer arid and semi-arid habitats, such Acacia savanna, semi-arid shrublands, riverine bush and gardens in arid areas. (Celesta von Chamier)

The Bald Eagle is the national bird of the United States of America and appears on its Seal. (Nina Stavlund)

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