Wetlands
Thriving in saturated marshes, swamps, and floodplains with splayed feet and specialized water-resistant plumage.
Greater Flamingo
Pink from pigments in its food, a filter-feeding bill that works upside down, and a one-legged stance scientists aren't sure about.
Green Anaconda
Up to 550 pounds of camouflaged ambush predator, with eyes and nostrils on top of its head, that kills with suffocating coils.
Grey Heron
A fish-eater that usually hunts by standing still, then generally swallows its catch whole.
Hippopotamus
A one-and-a-half-tonne river giant that walks the riverbed instead of swimming, and oozes its own sunscreen.
Hoatzin (Stinkbird)
A cow-style fermenting crop, wing-clawed chicks that swim from danger, and a place on the bird family tree debated since it was described in 1776.
Jaguar
Skull-piercing jaws, a powerhouse swimmer, and the largest cat in the Americas.
Mallard
The wild ancestor of nearly all domestic ducks, and a hen that lays larger eggs after mating with a male she prefers.
Moose
Half-tonne boreal giant, antlers that are the fastest-growing tissue of any mammal, and stilt legs that sometimes give it an edge over wolves in deep snow.
Muskrat
A marsh rodent that builds its home from piled-up plants and eats about a third of its own weight every day.
Mute Swan
Not actually mute: it hisses, snorts and twirls with its wings raised.
North American Beaver
Self-sharpening orange teeth strengthened with iron, and an ecosystem engineer that dams streams into ponds.
Ocelot
Dark spots that sometimes link into chains across golden fur, on a solitary night hunter whose eyes see much better in the dark than ours.
Proboscis Monkey
An oversized nose that works as both a visual badge and a vocal amplifier, webbed fingers and toes that help it swim across rivers, and a cow-like habit of bringing food back up to chew it again.
Pygmy Hippopotamus
Dwarf solitary forest hippo of the Upper Guinean swamps, with pink blood-sweat sunscreen.
Quokka
A Western Australian wallaby with three kinds of colour cone, a permanent grin, and no fear of tourists.
Reticulated Python
The longest python, up to 33 feet of snake with black X's running down its back in a diamond-like pattern.
Roseate Spoonbill
The pink wader that hunts by touch, swinging a slightly open spoon-shaped bill through the shallows and snapping it shut when it contacts prey.
Saltwater Crocodile
Up to 23-foot apex archosaur, and the species behind the highest bite force measured in any animal: 3,689 pounds.
Sandhill Crane
A red-capped crane that duets with its mate and sleeps standing in the shallows.
Shoebill Stork
Prehistoric-looking swamp stalker with a foot-long bill shaped like a clog.
Spotted Hyena
Bone-crushing jaws, matriarchal clan rule, and a whoop that carries for miles.
Water Buffalo
A farm giant that can reach 1,000 kg and wallows in mud to cool off.
Western Grebe
Tied with Clark's grebe as the largest animal known to run on water, sprinting across a lake in a courtship display called rushing.