Every Fall, the Bird Photographer of the Year competition celebrates the diversity and beauty of the creatures that constitute class Aves. The contest is open to hobbyists around the globe, and in 2022 entrants submitted over 20,000 images of feathered friends of all kinds: Some swim, some soar, some burrow, and they are all actually dinosaurs.
The competition, sponsored by optics and camera companies, supports the avian conservation charity Birds on the Brink. Check out the award-winning shots.
“Rock Ptarmigan Flight”
A white rock ptarmigan launches itself off a rock high above the fjords of Norway in this stunning shot that took the overall prize.
“Facing the Storm”
A small dunlin faces off against the wind as it trudges across Heligoland, an island in the North Sea.
“Hop, Skip and Jump”
In the Western Ghats of India, a pluckish parakeet flits from one branch to another.
“Sunset”
A Kentish plover in its flock stands alone on a beach in Thailand. The bird is perfectly framed by the reflection of the setting sun.
“Beads of Diamonds”
The eye of a common loon (also known by its way cooler name, the Great Northern Diver) covered in water droplets from a recent dive.
“The Doting Couple”
This happy couple is made up of two purple-crested turacos in South Africa. The intimate moment was caught by a birder while he was searcher for another interesting species, the African emerald cuckoo.
“Waxwing Silhouette”
The colours of these bohemian waxwing are totally drowned out by the light behind the animal, leaving just its silhouette. The bird is chowing down on some berries.
“Schalow’s Turaco”
A gorgeous turaco in flight. The photographer caught the fast-flying bird on a green background — an impressive feat.
“Free as a Bird”
A European shag flies over a large wave (about 7.92 m high) off the coast of northern Spain.
“Winter Swans”
If you squint, you can see the two swans on an icy lake. This image abstracts the swans’ environment, as the viewer is tempted to focus on the geometry of the icy lake rather than the birds.
“Sandhill Crane Flight Team Air Show”
Though this image looks impossibly timed, it’s actually a composite image taken of sandhill cranes and an airshow by the US Navy Blue Angels. Still, it makes for an amusing look at the animal kingdom.
“The Owlet and the Dump”
This image of a young owl reminds us of how human waste becomes part of an animal’s landscape.
“Hoot Are You?”
A barred owl peers out from behind a tree trunk in Acadia National Park, Maine.
“Droplets”
An Anna’s hummingbird investigates water droplets coming off a fountain in Fremont, California.
“Sleeping Beauty”
A king penguin chick in its ‘teddy bear’ plumage, a star difference from the black and white of the adults. This particular chick is sleeping in the Falkland Islands.
“Strut Performer”
A male sage grouse displaying its remarkable plumage. The grouse isn’t displaying for us, though, but for any female mate that will deign to take him.
“Duelling On the Elk”
In this photo, we see sage grouses grousing. Specifically, two males face off in a fight over females. With their remarkable plumage, the birds truly look like warriors.
“Silo Mural”
Two galahs fly in front of a slightly washed-out mural in Queensland, Australia. The birds are pale pink, and complement their blue-green background.
“Between Two Worlds”
A double-crested cormorant dives down towards a school of fish off the coast of Mexico. The bird — its wings tucked in — resembles a missile as it bombs down towards its target.
“Van Gogh’s Storks”
In this gold award winner for creative imagery, the photographer captures white storks on a background evidently inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night. “Ukrainians don’t traditionally give birds and animals human names,” the photographer stated in a release. “However, an exception is made with White Storks, which are addressed as if they were people.”
“Urban Birds”
A string of flamingos fly over the skyline of Abu Dhabi. The buildings on the skyline poke out above low cloud cover.
“Shadows”
This enigmatic shot of a Eurasian blackbird shows the animal on a mossy branch in Spain. The bird is silhouetted, giving it a certain mystique as it ponders its next move.
“Pied Avocet Chick”
A young pied avocet pulls its beak out of the water in a Hungarian national park. Abstracted from the scale of larger things — like the water buffalo nearby — the bipedal animal perhaps looks the most dinosaur-like of any of the birds in this contest.
“Crazy”
The eye of a Western Capercaillie seems to be accentuated by the blackness of the rest of the image. The animal’s tail feathers take up the majority of the image, with the eye just a sliver in the corner of the photo — yet the place to which the observer’s eye is drawn.
“Puffin Love”
This photo of silhouetted puffins shows the birds in a humanising light. They came together with the morning sun behind them, casting an intimate light on the moment.
“Guillemot Swimmers”
Guillemots, or murres, are caught diving in a marine reserve off of Scotland in this image. The birds appear to be flying with their wings spread — its only the bubbles and the greenish tint of the water that give them away. Oh, and the jellyfish.
“Starling at Night”
A starling approaches some sunflower seeds (out of frame). The animal’s head has a blur as it swoops in at speed.
“Kaleidoscope”
Flocks of flamingos appear to be vapour-like dots on this image, taken from an aircraft. Behind the flamingos, Kenya’s Lake Logipi is awash in yellows and reds from algae in the lakebed.
“The Guardian of Mordor”
A black-and-white image of a volcanic beach in Iceland. A cormorant — its wings spread — is beautifully framed by the large rocks.
“Fishy Business”
A pelican prods at a dead fish with flamingos flying in the background. This image is also edited; the pelicans and flamingos were in Greece, and the boat was on the Norfolk coastline. The fish and lantern were photographed in the photographer’s garden, and they all came together to make this dreamlike image.
“Gonzo”
This little owl (Athene noctua) doesn’t appear too stoked about the heavy rain that recently fell in its habitat of Transylvania.