The Sketch

This South American misfit tries hard to fit in, but just can't help being weird.

This New Zealander is often down, but never out.

This sweet-looking bird has a serious dark side.

Encounters with these "gray ghosts" may leave you feeling a little uneasy.

When this seabird isn't projectile-vomiting on its enemies, it's probably burying its head in rotting seal guts.

This cranky marsh bird takes tough-love parenting to a whole new level.

This pudgy little bird may not look like anything special, but beneath its underwhelming exterior beats the heart of a champion.

While you struggle to get your 10,000 steps a day, this wading bird covers thousands of miles without stopping once.

This intimidating giant has a question for you.

This seabird is the Venus flytrap of the avian world—but way weirder.

This long-stemmed and long-sighted wader gets all the good stuff: sex, real estate, and plenty of insects.

Nightjars, goatsuckers, whatever you want to call them—these freaky birds are heard but rarely seen.

These little guys are all about fun in the sun.

An emissary of kings and inspirer of poets, once it’s home, this bird is all kinds of nasty.

Thanks to an undercover Audubon sting, this bird is more of a backyard staple than a celebrity.

Social climbers beware—in this flock, everyone knows their place in line.

This Little Brown Bird has a tendency to get bird lovers all riled up.

This bone eater may seem sinister, but you just need some time to get to know it.

An artist with commercial appeal.

These South American birds made it north by escaping from a broken shipping crate… Maybe.

This bird's what you might get if you combined a bat, a dolphin, and a mouse, added just a soupçon of frat boy, and put a beak on it.

Are you ready for this thing? I don't think you're ready for this thing.

This freethinking sandpiper has no use for your bourgeois conventions.

If a bird walks on water and no one is there to see it, does it make a splash?