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Nicolas Reusens, “Glistening Green,” Glistening-green Tanager (Chlorochrysa phoenicotis), Mashpi Amagusa Reserve, Ecuador. Gold Award Winner: Best Portrait. All images © the photographers and Bird Photographer of the Year 2023

Bird Photographer of the Year 2023 Highlights Avian Attitudes and Winged Wonders Around the World

Kate Mothes

The judges of the 2023 Bird Photographer of the Year competition (previously) sifted through more than 20,000 images submitted from photographers around the globe. With lenses trained on a variety of avians and their habitats, the makers of this year’s winning images highlight diverse behavior, sizes, colors, and environments, from enigmatic and elusive species to familiar backyard friends.

Jack Zhi’s grand prize-winning image catches the dramatic moment that a Peregrine Falcon attacks a Brown Pelican in mid-flight. “I love the eyes of the pelican in this image: surprised and scared,” Zhi says. “The action was fast and over in the blink of an eye.” Other category winners include striking portraits and rare observations, like Nicolas Reusens’ Glistening-green Tanager framed in a tropical leaf, Rafael Armada’s capture of a tiny Sword-billed Hummingbird, or Henley Spiers’ underwater sighting of a Blue-footed Booby with a freshly-caught meal.

Two owls beak to beak.
Qiuqing Mu, “A Mother’s Love,” Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa), Zhejiang, China. Bronze Award Winner: Bird Behavior

The 2024 contest is now open for entries on the organization’s website, where you can also browse a gallery of this year’s winning photos. Follow BPOTY on Instagram for more updates.

Rafael Armada, “Flying Sword,” Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), Bogotá, Colombia. Gold Award Winner: Birds in Flight
A black-and-white image of dead trees in water with a large bird at the base of the one of the trees.
Cheng Kang, “Morning Serenity,” Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae), Northern Country, Victoria, Australia. Bronze Award Winner: Black-and-white
A Brambling perched on the stem of a dead sunflower in winter.
Mateusz Piesiak, “Sunflower Paradise,” Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla), Lower Silesia, Poland. Gold Award Winner: Birds in the Environment
A vertical view downward of six flying flamingos over a green expanse.
Paul Mckenzie, “Green Planet Flamingos,” Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), Lake Bogoria, Kenya. Silver Award Winner: Birds in Flight
A Purple Heron with a fish in its bill.
Antonio Aguti, “No Way Out,” Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea), Lake Chiusi, Italy. Gold Award Winner: Comedy Bird Photo
A Great Grey Owl perched on a headstone.
Arto Leppänen, “A Moment of Prayer,” Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa), Helsinki, Finland. Gold Award Winner: Urban Birds
A Peregrine Falcon attacking the head of a Brown Pelican in flight.
Jack Zhi, “Grab the Bull by the Horns.” Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), Southern California, United States. Gold Award Winner: Bird Behavior
A Blue-footed Booby underwater with a fish in its bill.
Henley Spiers, “Blue-Footed Fishing Dive,” Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii), Los Islotes, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Silver Award Winner: Bird Behavior

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