Cute burrowing owls from the United States.
Oxpeckers are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, in open habitats, but are absent from the driest deserts and the rainforests. They graze exclusively on the bodies of large mammals, feeding on ectoparasites, particularly ticks, as well as on insects infesting wounds present in their hosts. The impala is their preferred host, probably because of their heavy tick load as well as the social nature of that species. Can you spot the oxpeckers in these images?
Synchronous fireflies glow yellow, illuminating the night at the forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.
Meerkat in a zoo, Botswana
Adorable, solitary meerkat stands tall atop a hollow log in his habitat enclosure, standing guard over his den.
The population of Northern sea otters living in the waters off south Alaska (pictured herewith) has thankfully stabilized despite thousands of sea otters perishing in Prince William Sound as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Rebuilding the population took about 25 years. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published a 2014 report concluding that the population had recovered to pre-spill levels.
Turtles are surprisingly good swimmers. When active, sea turtles must swim to the ocean surface to breathe every few minutes, but when they are resting, they can remain underwater for as long as 2 hours without breathing.
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Polar bear cubs on or near the Hudson Bay shoreline in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. (Click on images for full views.)
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