The annual contest celebrates birds’ beauty and supports their conservation. Read the stories behind 10 winning shots
A tobogganing penguin, balletic goldfinch and a Peregrine Falcon fledgling gleefully chasing a butterfly are among the winning shots in this year’s Bird Photographer of the Year competition.
Keen-eyed snappers from all over the world entered more than 23,000 images into the competition, each with their eyes on the £3,500 grand prize. This year, the project donated £5,000 to partner charity Birds on the Brink, which gives funding to grassroots bird conservation projects around the world.
Here, the photographers behind 10 of the winning entries reveal the stories behind the shots. View all the winners here.
Heavenly elegant flight, by Nicolas Groffal
European Goldfinch, (Carduelis carduelis). France
Birds in Flight. Silver award winner
“In the dead of winter, I marvel at the aerial ballet of the garden birds that come to visit my trees and to take advantage of the seeds that I put out for them. Discreetly hidden, I tried to immortalise their flight and its delicate trail using a flash and camera in ‘rear curtain’ mode. The mission was challenging and these mischievous little models followed their own dance. However, it is precisely this spontaneity that makes the photographic challenge exhilarating! Hundreds of shots were required before I captured the perfect moment, which portrayed the fleeting magic of nature in winter.”
A modern dancer, by Nadia Haq (US)
Adélie Penguin, (Pygoscelis adeliae). Antarctica
Comedy Bird Photo. Gold award winner
“I was sitting on a Zodiac [inflatable boat] next to my husband and 10-year-old son near Brown Bluff, Antarctica, when we spotted a group of Adélie Penguins on some sea ice. As we slowly approached them, they started to toboggan on the ice, and I captured one of them sliding as if performing a modern dance move.”
Playful fledgling, by Jack Zhi
Peregrine Falcon, (Falco peregrinus). Southern California, US
Bird Behaviour. Silver award winner
“This Peregrine Falcon fledgling had been flying for over a week and his skills had improved by the day. While he still took food from parents, he had started to practise his hunting skills. He was not good enough to catch live birds in the air yet, so he took baby steps by chasing a fluttering butterfly. He was certainly much faster than the butterfly and also nimble enough to keep up with it. Look at the concentration! He was successful on occasion, caught the butterfly, played with it for a second, then released it. I have been photographing peregrines for years, and this was the first time I have seen fledglings play with butterflies.”
Black grouse, by Markus Varesvuo
Black Grouse, (Lyrurus tetrix). Kuusamo, Finland
Best Portrait. Bronze award winner
“For several weeks each year, Black Grouse gather at leks on spring mornings for courtship and display. It can still be quite wintry and cold. They fly in before sunrise and land in the trees on the edge of the lek. Eventually the males come down, each claiming their patch, and spend a couple of hours sizing each other up, charging at each other, engaging in mostly mock battles. Sometimes, however, the encounters escalate to real fights. The heated breath of a solitary fighter is steaming in the cold air, which I captured while sitting inside a small photography hide, revelling in the sounds and sights of this ancient play.”
Perspective, by Andrés Luis Domínguez Blanco
Eurasian Nuthatch, (Sitta europaea). Grazalema, southern Spain
12–14 years. Gold award winner and young bird photographer of the year
“I photographed this Eurasian Nuthatch at Grazalema in southern Spain using a wide-angle lens. An oak tree next to a river provides cover for species such as woodpeckers and nuthatches coming down to drink. I was using a remote-control set-up, and I just had to wait. Since these species like to climb trunks, I thought about what their vision and perspective would be like.”
Swanception, by Samual Stone
Mute Swan, (Cygnus olor). London, UK
Best Portrait. Silver award winner
“I conceived the idea for this image some time ago, but each time I attempted to turn it into reality one of the elements was not right. It felt like I was in a creative rut and I had not taken an image I was really happy with for a while. On this particular morning, I decided to return to this idea out of desperation. I spotted my local Mute Swans in their usual spot, preening in the morning light. Fortunately, it was also a crisp morning, and the mist was slowly descending, creating a soft morning glow. After so many attempts, everything finally came together when a swan swam into the perfect spot. Finally, I created the image I had pictured in my mind.”
Open door, by Robert Gloeckner
Eastern Screech-Owl, (Megascops asio). Clearwater, Florida, US
Comedy Bird Photo. Silver award winner
“This image shows an Eastern Screech-Owl as it leans out of a ‘window’ of its home. These tiny owls are common in Florida’s densely populated areas. On my way to work one day I spotted a dead palm tree in Clearwater that had likely looking holes in its trunk. Later that day I checked again and spotted this owl peeking out of it. During nesting season, Eastern Screech- Owls often use premade holes in trees as their nesting cavity.”
Treacherous journey, by Grzegorz Długosz
Goosander, (Mergus merganser). Warsaw, Poland
Urban Birds. Gold award winner
“Goosanders breed in the park about 1 kilometre from Poland’s life-giving River Vistula. Each mother has to move her brood to the river as quickly as possible due to lack of food and safety in the park. They make the journey through a series of underground passages and over a six-lane highway. Each year a group of volunteers help them cross this deadly road by stopping the traffic. After crossing they arrive at the River Vistula where they can feed and grow. This image shows a mother Goosander crossing a smaller road because she decided not to use the scary and dark underground passage below it.”
Dawn’s whispers. Graceful Hoopoe silhouette at sunrise, by Hermis Haridas, (India)
Eurasian Hoopoe, (Upupa epops). Al Qudra Lakes, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Birds in Flight. Gold award winner
“A Eurasian Hoopoe took flight with its wings spread in a smooth motion across the canvas of the early-morning sky illuminated by the sunrise’s bright hues. I saw that this bird would occasionally grab its prey in the air and other times on the ground. Additionally, I noticed that each time it caught prey, it flew in the same direction to a nearby tree. That was when I had the idea to photograph the bird against a background divided into dark and light, representing the contrasting sides of existence.
“The following morning, I returned to the same spot well before sunrise, eager to witness nature’s spectacle unfold once again. Anticipation heightened as the first rays of light bathed the landscape, and, true to my expectations, the hoopoe appeared in the distance, gliding gracefully towards the perch that was familiar from the previous day. With my camera poised and settings adjusted, I commenced capturing the unfolding scene. Among the flurry of clicks, I chanced upon a frame that resonated deeply with me – a moment frozen in time, brimming with unique charm. It was as if nature had bestowed upon me a gift, a singular composition that encapsulates the essence of the hoopoe’s beauty and grace. Indeed, many have remarked that this frame is a marvel that cannot be replicated – a testament to the serendipitous wonders that await those who seek them amid the natural world.”
Eclipse, by William Steel (South Africa)
Grey Heron, (Ardea cinerea). Okavango Delta, Botswana
Black and White. Silver award winner
“Here we see a Grey Heron as it looks for a roosting place in the top of a dead tree,
illuminated by a full moon. Knowing that it was a penumbral lunar eclipse, my guests and I went in search of a distinctive subject to place in front of it. As the heron jostled for position alongside some larger Marabou Storks, we managed to capture the moment just before the heron flew away. Using a high f-stop, heavily underexposing, and keeping a slow shutter speed of only 1/200th of a second, I was able to capture some of the moon’s detail, while suppressing most of the noise.”
Main image: Samual Stone
The 2025 competition is now open for entries at birdpoty.com. Organisers invite photographers of all experience levels to submit their best bird photos
Images: all photos are published courtesy of the photographer / Bird Photographer of the Year
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