Northern Carmine Bee-eater - Liberia

Founded in 1822, the city of Monrovia contains more than 1/4 of the Liberian population. It was named for James Monroe, the 5th president of the United States. He was a member of the American Colonization Society, an organization responsible for establishing the colony of Liberia as a retreat for freed American slaves.

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Merops nubicus - As its name implies, the northern carmine bee-eater feeds primarily on bees, although other flying insects such as grasshoppers are also included in its diet. Bee-eaters use their long beaks to build elaborate nesting tunnels into sandy cliffs located near riverbanks. These colonies can contain several hundred individuals. The bee-eaters use the same tunnels for several generations. Bee-eaters are skillful flyers able to drink while skimming over water and adept at catching their food on the fly.

Grey-headed King Fisher - Mauritania

Halcyon leucocephala - Despite the name, the grey-headed king fisher does not feed on fish; its primary diet consists of insects. It will perch on a branch until spotting a potential meal and then proceed into a dive to catch the insect. The king fisher averages 20 centimeters in length and has a distinctive coloration; wing primaries are black, secondaries and tail feathers are a light cobalt blue, and the sharp beak is a bright orange-red. It is a common bird found throughout central Africa.

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Excluding the polar regions, the Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world. It stretches from the western edge of Africa to the Red Sea and from the Mediterranean coast to the savannahs of the Sahel, a semi-desert region of Northern Africa. The Sahara contains 9,400,000 square kilometers and has spread into 10 countries and one disputed territory: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara. It covers one fourth of the African continent.

Puerto Rican Tody - Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico had been originally inhabited by Taíno people prior to the arrival of Europeans. Spain had colonial possession of Puerto Rico from 1493 to 1898. The islands were ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris following the Spanish-American War. Puerto Rico is considered as a territory of the United States.

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Todus mexicanus - The Puerto Rican tody is native to the main island of Puerto Rico and is known locally as San Petrito. It can be found in the higher forested regions where insects are more common. The upper body coloration is a bright green, the flanks are yellow, and the underside yellowish white. The throat area is red as is the lower mandible. They are primarily insectivores, but do add fruit to their diet and occasionally lizards, especially during the nesting season to assure a healthy clutch of eggs.