The 2024 artist Photo Awards: The Top 100 – Information Global Online

Each assemblage of the artist Photography Awards is exciting, but this digit is especially celebratory: 2024 marks the 125th period of Audubon magazine—and the 15th broadcast of our period represent competition. Around 2,300 entrants from crossways the United States and Canada submitted more than 8,500 photographs and videos of birds feeding, fighting, mating, and making their artefact in the world. After nameless review, our proficient judges designated meet 14 mythologic winners and revered mentions.

But as always, we couldn’t kibosh there. Here are 100 more of our selection photos from this year’s submissions. Displayed in no portion order, these stunning images from professional, amateur, and youngness photographers exposit birds on nearly every continent, a awesome journeying of the avian world. Scroll finished and enjoy, and wager more most the featured species, as substantially as the techniques and approaches of the photographers, in the “Behind the Shot” stories for apiece picture.

If this room inspires you to essay your possess avian photo-ops, our photography section is a beatific locate to get started. There you’ll connexion articles covering tips and how-to’s, Audubon’s ethical guidelines for wildlife photography, and gear recommendations. Consider incoming incoming year’s represent contest—we can’t advise to wager your work!

1. American Avocet by Michelle Mackenzie

Category: Amateur
Location: Davis County, Utah
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS threesome USM lens; 1/2000 ordinal at f/2.8; ISO 100
Behind the Shot: One mid-September morning, a whatever companions and I donned dripless waders and crept discover to Great Salt Lake. We gingerly downbound ourselves onto the oozing, sticky mudflats and overturned our agglomerated countenance toward the horizon. The solarise inched up, enlightening thousands of shorebirds based by the lake. Slowly, the dweller Avocets who congregate here in advise became cushy with our unhearable presence. The shorebirds gracefully sweptwing backwards and forward as they gleaned flora invertebrates from the water. The ascension solarise sparkled on whatever psychoneurotic mud, creating a bokeh ornament of foggy dots of light. As digit shuttle touched closer, I quietly upraised my camera and essay this photo, capturing the bokeh, liquid flowing from the bird’s bill, and the burgeoning reddened finished the revilement feathers. 

2. Ruby-throated Hummingbird by Julia Willmann 

Category: Professional
Location: Troy, Missouri
Camera: Sony a7 threesome with a Sony FE 90mm F/2.8 Macro G OSS lens; 1/3200 ordinal at f/2.8; ISO 200
Behind the Shot: There is a destined instance when the solarise shines finished the trees and hits the lowercase blot of flowers in my yard, making it wager aforementioned a magical sprite tale. As I ran discover to verify pictures, I detected digit hummingbirds zipping in and discover of the sun’s rays. I went up tardily and captured this represent of them expose in the beams of light, their bonny rainbow wings glistening. It is today digit of my selection pictures because I wager aforementioned it genuinely captured that short instance of illusion in nature. I watched them and took pictures until the solarise went downbound behindhand added tree branch, graduation the flowers. 

3. Burrowing Owl by Maria Khvan

Category: Amateur
Location: Lee County, Florida
Camera: Sony Alpha 7R threesome with a Sony FE 600mm F/4 GM OSS lens; 1/1000 ordinal at f/4; ISO 1250
Behind the Shot: I came to a accord tract before sunrise to represent Burrowing Owls—I knew they’d be there because I had visited the period before to check. After I ordered on the connector and waited for a whatever minutes, departed digit shuttle emerged and started dig in the smoothen around its burrow. I tardily shifted myself to intend the primeval solarise behindhand the shuttle and effort the smoothen it was agitated in the air. This circumstance lasted for inferior than a minute.

4. dweller Avocet by Nikunj Patel

Category: Amateur
Location: Great Salt Lake, Utah
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR lens; 1/1250 ordinal at f/9; ISO 500
Behind the Shot: In the spring, I sacred individualist chronicle to capturing the migration of shorebirds around Great Salt Lake. One modify feat as the solarise rose, I donned my waders and positioned myself at the water’s bounds where a tranquil gathering of avocets fancy the shoreline. With their slim frames and amend albescent feathers, they bacilliform a enthralling arrangement against the shimmering water. Each avocet exuded grace, their ethereal necks elegantly arching as they nearby their bills beneath their wings. The scenery of snow-capped mountains added to the scene’s majesty, their peaks effort the prototypal reddened of dawn. One avocet stood with its nous held broad against the scenery of nature’s grandeur, a instrument to the lasting attraction of the uncolored world.

5. Red-crowned communicator by Michele McCormick

Category: Amateur
Location: Hokkaido, Japan
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/2000 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 200
Behind the Shot: I was at the Tsurui-Ito communicator Sanctuary with broad hopes of photographing cranes in the snow. Making wonderful images of these Red-crowned Cranes in the departed of flavour meant stagnant correct for hours to grownup an engrossing moment. Alas, my Calif. flavour equipment didn’t revilement the condiment in temperatures beneath zero. On the prototypal day, I had to retreat. Fortunately, I was healthy to lease equipment and reassert my rite in qualifying richness the incoming day. These awful birds foregather in clusters, and patch it was fascinating to analyse them, making an ikon in which whatever individualist shuttle or unify was unaccompanied required unceasing tending and lightning reflexes.

6. Great Frigatebird by Liron Gertsman

Category: Professional
Location: Galápagos, Ecuador
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/250 ordinal at f/10; ISO 250 
Behind the Shot: Photographing Great Frigatebirds was a portion of my meet to Genovesa Island. One of their most awesome features is the large, inflatable throat counterbalance sported by the males and utilised during their entreaty displays. While perceptive them, I detected that the intricacies of the murder vessels and produce scheme on the gular decay were specially circumpolar when the counterbalance was backlit by the sun. Spotting a displaying bird, I positioned myself with the solarise behindhand the bird, allowing the backlight to expose unseeable tube details. 

7. Arctic Tern and Ivory Gull by Sue Dougherty

Category: Professional
Location: Svalbard, Norway
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 320
Behind the Shot: Exploring the archipelago archipelago is aforementioned cosmos in added world. The magnificent chromatic of the icebergs and the purple-gray of the skies are stunning on their own. Pair that with the fauna that is highly modified to the Arctic, and it’s modify more amazing. An Arctic Tern, nearing instance to migrate, flew over a alert Ivory Gull alert on an iceberg, nearly as a feat for the season. This prefabricated an awful orientating of digit birds: digit that migrates 25,000 miles from the Arctic to continent and backwards annually, and digit that lives its flooded life, with thin exception, on and above the Arctic circle. 

8. Louisiana Waterthrush by herb Eisengart

Category: Youth
Location: Loudonville, Ohio
Camera: Sony Alpha 6400 with a Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di threesome VC VXD lens; 1/320 ordinal at f/6.7; ISO 1600
Behind the Shot: Mohican State Park is famous in river as a nurture birds’ paradise. The Algonquian River carves discover the landscape, creating a englut 1,000 feet panoramic and 300 feet deep. Massive hardwoods appearance disbursement and stop a caretaker drawing of species. And ease my selection person to represent in these woods is a shuttle that appreciates the hunch of it all: the river itself. Louisiana Waterthrush fix up and downbound streams, call loudly, and beatific with no end. Sometimes, I astonishment how much tiny birds crapper hit so much breath. This portion shuttle foraged silently for bugs. I slowly, quietly, and carefully downbound myself onto a humate deposit, invigorated my camera downbound on the rock, and fired as whatever photos as I could. 

9. Yellow-headed Blackbird by Gavin Regan

Category: Youth
Location: McNeal, Arizona
Camera: Nikon D780 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR lens; 1/640 ordinal at f/8; ISO 2000
Behind the Shot: On his period off, martyr Andrejko, a bounteous Arizona nature and wildlife photographer, took me to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area, where tens of thousands of Sandhill Cranes embellish during migration. There was also an quantity of geese, sora, ducks, towhees, and—one of the most elating of all—Yellow-headed Blackbirds. The blackbirds would crowd by the hundreds and verify soured every together, making an supernatural sound. I walked a structure downbound the distinction to intend the flocks backlit against the inhospitable sunset. The termination was this ikon of the blackbirds achievement in for a construction in the marsh, their wings lambent as if on fire. Never hit I seen much staggering glasses of the uncolored concern as I saw that day.  

10. Least Tern by histrion Culpepper

Category: Amateur
Location: Ipswich, Massachusetts
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens; 1/400 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 1250
Behind the Shot: Over the summer, I was discover photographing shorebirds at Sandy Point State Reservation with a whatever of my friends. We had our cameras drilled on whatever terns and added species that were roosting on the beach in grappling of us. However, when I heard calls from direct behindhand me, I overturned to wager digit Least Terns had meet landed. I tardily repositioned myself in the fleecy smoothen to saucer my camera at the pair. They started mating, which is when I got this photo. Given the unsafe status that whatever wader species are concealment cod to surround loss, it feels noise primary to be healthy to pay instance with these animals and analyse their behaviors.

11. Anna’s Hummingbird by Soo Baus 

Category: Amateur
Location: Port Townsend, Washington
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/3200 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 1250
Behind the Shot: In a friend’s backyard, I desired to represent the hummingbirds at a liquid flowing during metallic hour, hoping to effort them with a broad shutter pace that showed the birds crapulence the spray. There were digit Anna’s Hummingbirds and digit Rufous Hummingbird temporary the fountain, and I eventually captured whatever bonny realty photos. While photographing, I could exclusive wager the birds’ movements in and discover of the liquid fountain, so I was astonied when I after saw this ikon of the hummingbird crapulence a droplet.

12. Great Black-backed Gull by Eaton Ekarintaragun 

Category: Youth
Location: Chesapeake Beach, Maryland
Camera: Sony NEX-7 with a Sony DT 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 SAM lens; 1/640 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 200 
Behind the Shot: Early advise is an elating time. I ofttimes pay these capricious weeks by the shore, labour for migrants and enjoying the terminal taste of hearty weather. At this portion location, whatever gulls and terns crapper be institute roosting, preparing to yield for device waters. One evening, I headlike discover with my camera. I institute a Great Black-backed Gull shitting calmly on the boardwalk, absent from the more favourite roosting symptom fireman to the water. The delude snoozed as I tardily downbound my perspective. After most an indifference of disagreeable assorted compositions, angles, and exposures, I captured an hint instance highlighted by the surround sun. 

13. Barred Owl by Kelley Luikey

Category: Professional
Location: Port Royal, South Carolina
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon EF 300mm f/2.8: IS II USM lens; 1/640 ordinal at f/2.8; ISO 6400
Behind the Shot: I had been quantity and arrange a unify of Barred Owls in a swampy ocean nearby my state for a unify of weeks. I commonly did not hit my camera with me, and if I did, the owls were alert in symptom that weren’t enthusiastic for photos. Determined to represent digit of them, I went backwards and sat in the woods for a unify of afternoons. One would control in meet before indifference apiece daytime and then control off. On this night, the shuttle flew to a stunning springy tree tree filled with realty moss, meet a whatever feet from where I sat. I tardily walked farther backwards until the tree filled most of the frame. Shortly after I took this shot, the shuttle flew off.

14. European Bee-eater by communicator Peloquin 

Category: Amateur
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/5.0; ISO 1100
Behind the Shot: On a instance activate to Slovenia, my spouse and I stayed at a ease for a whatever nights. Next to the ease was a vineyard, which overturned discover to be a mythologic scenery not exclusive for genre images, but also for bee-eater activity. While we ate a lovely breakfast outdoors, I detected the birds zipping around effort insects. They would alter a bee to a branch, throw it in the air, and blow it to intend the insult and neurolysin out. Then they would either verify the ectozoan or inform it to their witting mate. This realty became inevitable sufficiency that I was healthy to intend this essay patch my spouse chose her intoxicant for dinner. 

15. Osprey and emancipationist Pelican by Phil Seu

Category: Amateur
Location: Sebastian, Florida
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/4; ISO 4000
Behind the Shot: I was at Sebastian Inlet State Park when I witnessed quaternary emancipationist Pelicans meet on a sportfishing Osprey. The prototypal pelican to accomplish the shuttle conception enclosed it in its gular decay and dewy the Osprey into the water. Fortunately for the Osprey, its nous and wings remained free, and it was healthy to carelessness before the added pelicans arrived. I wish my ikon of this thin circumstance inspires the viewer to revalue the empiric struggles that wildlife face.

16. Black-legged Kittiwake by Jen Waicukauski

Category: Amateur
Location: Svalbard, Norway
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens; 1/1600 ordinal at f/5; ISO 800
Behind the Shot: The midnight solarise had meet begun surround after nearly sextet months of daylight. We caught a labour of Arctic foxes realty nearby the beach beneath the Ossian Sars shuttle cliffs and hoped to blot them again, though it was New and the reddened was dimming. Black-legged Kittiwakes hit the cliffs to essay to escape predators aforementioned the foxes, and it is mesmerizing to analyse the hunters manoeuver the ledges, which appearance hundreds of feet above the sea. Bird contagion and status modify hit condemned a momentous beatific on both the kittiwakes and the foxes in instance years. To wager beast and prey, alive of apiece added and coexisting, makes it realty how intertwined every chronicle is within this breakable ecosystem.

17. Pileated Woodpecker by Jan Nickols

Category: Amateur
Location: Dunedin, Florida
Camera: Sony Alpha 7R IV with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/1250 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 1250
Behind the Shot: Pileated Woodpeckers are artful in the obtusely populated ocean where I live, but I patterned this nest in a departed sabal region at the incoming to Hammock Park. First, I detected the parents leaving into a mess in the tree, then threesome teen faces popped out. The chicks’ cacophonic calls for concern multifarious from short to long, and I institute myself rooting for the youngest. By mid-morning, the Florida reddened is harsh, so I scholarly to intend there primeval for whatever awful realty shots between the chicks and their parents—and to be certain where I stood, since I had to constantly falsity bikers and cars from a canid park. When the teen fledged, I was compassionate to wager them go. 

18. Brown Creeper by Aranya Karighattam

Category: Youth
Location: Concord, Massachusetts
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with a Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens; 1/400 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 1000
Behind the Shot: As I walked finished the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, I heard a whatever sweet, high-pitched tsee notes nearby. I scanned the nearby trees to locate the songbird. With whatever effort, I institute this bonny emancipationist Creeper rise a caretaker broadleaf tree, its patterned brown and albescent produce patterns combining in departed with the hues and ridges of the tree trunk. As I peered finished my viewfinder and began clicking, I was delighted to wager “a example of strip embellish to life,” as earth transfer communicator Kenn playwright befittingly described the lowercase bird. emancipationist Creepers and added birds depend on grown forests and woodlands, so it is pivotal that we protect their habitats to support them thrive. 

19. Red Knot by Kyle Maitland

Category: Amateur
Location: McLaughlin Bay, Ontario, Canada
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon 500mm f/4L IS II USM lense and a Canon Extender EF 1.4x III; 1/2000 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 2000
Behind the Shot: After gist on a pleasant Sept day, I headlike to a beach where I ofttimes hit beatific phenomenon with shorebirds. I encountered a integrated crowd that included a Baird’s Sandpiper, a Stilt Sandpiper, and this Red Knot in firm someone plumage, with foppish scalloping on the upperparts. I ordered up at a beatific indifference to analyse and wait, hoping they would stray in my direction. After whatever time, as the solarise began to set, the plants at the crowning of the manufacture caught wonderful shadows. It was windy sufficiency for waves and spray, and the intermixture of hearty indifference illumination and shadows produced a flush cloth of bokeh balls and color, creating a unreal atmosphere.

20. Brown Pelican by Jean Hall 

Category: Amateur
Location: Marco Island, Florida
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark threesome with a Canon S II USM 24-105mm f/4 lens; 1/2000 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 800
Behind the Shot: I was serendipitous sufficiency to endeavor a realty scientist by kayak as she surveyed this rookery in the ABC Islands Critical Wildlife Area. The dish was pretty bouncy, so centering the camera was a challenge. It was also a noise gleaming period with disagreeable shadows, and exclusive digit lateral of the island presented whatever cosmos of a decorous shot. As we paddled, we had to be certain not to spook the birds. Nesting flavour is a breakable instance because the teen crapper advise discover of the nest into the water. But the emancipationist Pelicans were easygoing as they preened at this unsound nesting platform, which they had repurposed from a wooden blindfold erected decades ago. The mangroves where they nest are nonsexual jewels in Florida and the Caribbean, protecting shorelines, harboring fish, and providing surround for individualist shuttle species.

21. Boat-tailed Grackle by Stacy Alger

Category: Professional
Location: Amelia Island, Florida
Camera: Nikon Z 7II with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S lens; 1/1000 ordinal at f/10; ISO 1000
Behind the Shot: I had been photographing birds of the East Coast but had ease to accomplish Florida, so I cosmopolitan to Amelia Island. I had been actuation since daybreak and detected fishermen along a denture and plentitude of diminutive birds ornamentation discover nearby them. I prefabricated my artefact there and saw that the birds were not unsure and didn’t seem to tending that I was nearby. This portion Boat-tailed Grackle, its opaline chromatic feathers resembling locomote oil, was on a assignment to pay the seafaring someone in its grasp. I gradually touched closer, slowly, so as not to shock my subject. This mina convergent on eating. I kept shooting. 

22. Osprey by songster Fasching

Category: Amateur
Location: Cora, Wyoming
Camera: Sony Alpha 7 IV with a Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7, Di threesome VC VXD lens; 1/800 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 160
Behind the Shot: I woke up in a modify and Stygian bunkhouse and pulled on my boots. The solarise was meet ascension over the Wind River Range foothills as I headlike discover to analyse a kine intend with my man Lehigh University students. I had never mitt the East Coast before, and I had no intend how the activate would modify my life. During nutrition nearby a diminutive lake, my academic and I took our cameras to the water’s edge. He patterned digit Bald Eagles and shitting on the ridgeline behindhand them caught my eye. In a abash of activity, I snapped digit shots. I had not seen the shuttle in sufficiency discourse to refer it and wasn’t modify trusty the images were in focus. That night, I went finished my photos: cattle, scenic views, eagles—and an Osprey. The ikon is more than meet a serendipitous shot. It symbolizes my prototypal undertaking absent from home, attractive flight, and uncovering my wings. 

23. Peregrine Falcon by Karenic Bilgrai Cohen

Category: Amateur
Location: San Pedro, California
Camera: SONY Alpha 1 with a Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens; 1/3200 ordinal at f/4.5; ISO 250
Behind the Shot: For whatever years, I hit observed these falcons, which nest in a manufacture above the Pacific Ocean at Point Fermin. To represent them, I shin over a filler obstruction with my equipment and defence on a windy manufacture edge, inactivity for the falcons to embellish unitedly and state their aery ballet. This phallic snatches birds from the expose at broad speeds to substance to his relation during the nurture months, invigorating their stick and ensuring that the someone is well-fed patch she incubates eggs. Right before this shot, a broad call poor the silence, and the phallic falcon appeared with beast in his beak. He dropped it, and in a heartbeat, the someone falcon caught her gift. Witnessing the midair mercantilism fills me with wish that the incoming procreation of peregrines module endure and thrive. 

24. King Penguin by Steffen Foerster

Category: Amateur
Location: Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 70-200mm F/2.8 L IS USM lens; 1/1000 ordinal at f/2.8; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: I photographed a assemble of King Penguins aborning from the ocean on a foggy flavour morning. I ordered insipid on the intend to effort the hammy sky and the reflections in the dewy sand. Sea lions regularly guard the near-shore waters, so it was doable that the caretaker predators could break finished the waves and endeavor a kill. As I watched the penguins foregather in grappling of me, digit spinous its nous toward the clouds and trumpeted. It modify aforementioned the penguin was celebrating safely achievement the shores for added day. I was overpowered noesis with the bonny and tranquil scene.

25. House designer by Kevin Ni

Category: Amateur
Location: Newton, Massachusetts
Camera: Nikon Z7 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lense and Nikon FTZ Mount Adaptor; 1/640 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 2500 
Behind the Shot: On a flavour daytime in pedagogue Park Historic District, my spouse and I took a stroll, enjoying the breeze. During the walk, I captured a instance that today resonates deeply: a alert House designer delicately counterpoised on a worn wooden fence, clutching an ectozoan in its beak. The shuttle momently paused amid a scenery of riotous hibiscus foliage. The upgrade verdant hues, foggy to perfection, gesture me into a concern where the wren’s unseamed combining with its surround is evident.

26. Burrowing Owl by Paulette Donnellon 

Category: Amateur
Location: Calipatria, California 
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lense and a UV filter; 1/400 ordinal f/6.3; ISO 125 
Behind the Shot: In New June, I institute myself in the scorching parched modify of primeval morning, the temperature soaring over 90 degrees physicist in the inhospitable farmlands of Southern California’s Imperial County. I parked my automobile along a unclean soil agency at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge and sat with the windows pronounceable downbound in a useless endeavor to elicit a breeze. The expose around me shimmered, and flies intruded upon the shelter of my vehicle, incessantly buzzing. Amid this dull landscape, a enthralling environs unpleated before me: threesome someone Burrowing Owls peeked discover from their burrow, their peculiar eyes eagerly scanning their surroundings. Imperial County proudly claims to patron 70 proportionality of the state’s Burrowing Owl population, lightness its alive persona as a shelter for these primary creatures. 

27. California Condor by saint Orr 

Category: Amateur
Location: Vermilion Cliffs, Arizona 
Camera: Nikon D800E remotely triggered using PocketWizard farther triggers with a Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR lens; 1/320 ordinal at f/10; ISO 200 
Behind the Shot: Standing majestically on the clifflike cliff’s edge, Calif. Condor #731 poses against the scenery of Federal Arizona’s Vermilion Cliffs. This disorderly condor is conception of the Calif. Condor introduction information aimed at restoring populations to their instance range. Previously, condor #731 conventional communication for advance poisoning—an current supply for condors that hit advance arms fragments in the carrion they eat. To intend this shot, I utilised a farther camera falsehood and positioned myself 100 feet from the shuttle so I wouldn’t modify her. Using a wide-angle lense with designed pore and a broad aperture to process depth of field, I prefabricated trusty the shuttle would be in pore and manually triggered the shutter. 

28. Eastern Screech-Owl by Kelley Luikey

Category: Professional 
Location: Green Pond, South Carolina 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon EF 600 f/4L IS threesome USM lens; 1/500 ordinal at f/4; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: I institute a tree decay a whatever eld instance patch intelligent for owls. Occasionally, on a algid day, an Eastern Screech-Owl could be institute unerect in it patch sousing up the sun’s warmth. As I crowd by to analyse digit morning, I institute a flushed morph in the cavity. The owls commonly score downbound as presently as they wager you, so I remained in my automobile in the hopes that the shuttle would meet locate and I would be healthy to verify my instance photographing it. I played with the primeval feat reddened stuff the realty around the tree by tardily actuation my automobile backwards and forth, actuation assorted compositions. This was my favorite: I fuck how it highlights how tiny the Eastern Screech-Owl is. 

29. Gulls by Subha Joshi

Category: Amateur
Location: San Mateo County, California 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/400 ordinal at f/4.5; ISO 2000 
Behind the Shot: I commonly miss gulls when I’m discover attractive photos. While photographing the indifference at Martin’s Beach, disreputable for broad tides and dolphin waves, I didn’t hit my wildlife lense on my camera. But, as they say, the prizewinning lense is whatever you hit on. I am ever on the construction for things that delimitate bit or verify a story, and that daytime the crashing waves against this Brobdingnagian sway held every my attention. But something was missing, despite whatever colouration in the sky. That’s when I detected digit gulls attractive refuge, or perhaps admiring the view, up on the rock. I institute what I was labour for. The unify coequal the represent unitedly substantially for me. 

30. Canada Goose by Jedidiah Gray 

Category: Youth
Location: Barton, Vermont 
Camera: Nikon D850 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR lens; 1/320 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 1250
Behind the Shot: Spring is ofttimes algid and dewy in my state realty of Vermont, and Canada Geese embellish a ordinary arrange as they advise north. They don’t commonly kibosh on our land, but I detected digit in our backyard intake on grass. Much to my surprise, they were there for a whatever days, so I couldn’t support but verify my camera out. Despite cosmos much a ordinary bird, I institute this Canada Goose to be bonny and striking against the scenery of outflow advise and the magnificent naif grass. 

31. Common Goldeneye by nun Cheng

Category: Amateur
Location: Mountain View, California 
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens; 1/2000 ordinal at f/9; ISO 1250 
Behind the Shot: I went to Shoreline Lake to notice the courting behaviors of the Common Goldeneyes. The males’ opaline heads and assorted chromatic eyes attain them wonderful subjects, especially when they state entreaty displays. As I watched, I detected both males and females “rush” crossways the liquid toward added goldeneyes, streaming and wave their wings, and then sailing to a stop. This inclementness morning, every the colours were fleecy specs of gray. Once in a while, the goldeneyes would go underwater and then shitting up to the surface. This was my selection ikon of the period because it captured an unheralded moment. 

32. Western Gull by parliamentarian Gloeckner

Category: Amateur
Location: San Diego, California 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF400 F2.8 L IS USM lens; 1/2000 ordinal at f/2.8; ISO 160 
Behind the Shot: When hiking the precipitous and wrinkled terrain of La Jolla in the primeval morning, I patterned a Western Gull expose in and discover from the cliffs. I knew they favour nesting on the ground, specially where short plants or stony terrain wage counterbalance and separation from predators aforementioned foxes and coyotes. I climbed to intend a lowercase closer, cosmos certain not to artefact soured the rocks, and the delude was advise perfectly. The reddened reddened the cliffs behindhand it, gift a pleasant contrast. This is a primary represent to me because it captures the shuttle departed in its environment, not to name the danger in rise around to intend into position. 

33. Variable Oystercatcher by Steffen Foerster

Category: Amateur
Location: Rodney, New Zealand 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 100-500mm F/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/1000 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 3200 
Behind the Shot: Oystercatchers are widely famous as birds of the ocean shores, where they hit their long, brawny bills to select mollusks and crustaceans hiding in the sand. After photographing a kinsfolk of oystercatchers at a nearby beach at Tawharanui Regional Park, I packed up my equipment and walked backwards to the parking lot. But as I passed a earth of anthesis coney revilement grass, I saw a black nous imbibe up: an oystercatcher! I apace unpacked my equipment hoping the shuttle would secure around. It cooperated meet daylong sufficiency for me to effort a whatever frames. This brief, unheralded connexion was digit of the most memorable images of my month-long activate finished New Zealand.

34. Common Tern by Maria Khvan

Category: Amateur
Location: Nassau County, New York 
Camera: Sony a9 II with a Sony FE 600mm F/4 GM OSS lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 1250
Behind the Shot: At sunset, I went to a beach famous for its wader colonies, hoping to represent the birds in grace with the solarise behindhand them. I detected digit Common Tern chasing another. I came up with this ikon after apace adjusting the settings to intend both birds in pore and effort their backlit feathers. It was somewhat grueling with the terns expose so fast, but I got the essay I wanted.

35. Wilson’s Snipe by Jedidiah Gray

Category: Youth
Location: Barton, Vermont 
Camera: Nikon D850 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR lens; 1/640 ordinal at f/4; ISO 800 
Behind the Shot: At our state in Vermont, I had been quantity a dispense occupation discover for individualist days. I was agog because snipes are rarely range here, and exclusive in the spring. But I could not connexion it. One day, I was photographing a thrush when I detected a wader in the background. I realized it was the snipe. The shuttle was noise peculiar and kept achievement closer. Snipes are commonly shy, so I was joyous when I got a close-up represent that departed captures soil flavour in Vermont, with the bird’s alikeness in a blot amid the turbid gage and dropping snow. 

36. Mourning Dove by saint Tornetta

Category: Youth
Location: Gladwyne, Pennsylvania 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a RF 100-500mm F/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/3200 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: One especially algid and achromatic Jan morning, I looked discover the pane and detected a diminutive crowd of Mourning Doves huddled nearby unitedly for modify in a tree in my grappling yard. I had sporadic whatever flower seeds the period before, and I knew that the doves would presently advise from the tree, craving player forcefulness on this modify day. In my mind, I represented the example of a disarmer in flight, gracefully degressive finished the dropping snow. I headlike discover front, intend on capturing the vision. While I spent whatever hours photographing assorted species of birds that morning, my selection ikon of the period surpassed modify my caretaker expectations. 

37. Peregrine Falcon by Trish Oster

Category: Amateur
Location: San Pedro, California 
Camera: Canon EOS R6 with a Canon RF 100-500mm F/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/3200 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 2000 
Behind the Shot: This instance year, this Peregrine Falcon unify welcomed quaternary eyases. The laboring parents worked hornlike to ready the youngsters fed. The someone in my represent was intake digit of the diminutive eyases, which caused the digit caretaker siblings, who had already had their deal of the meal, to embellish agitated. One aloud begged, and the added relation looked downbound with what seemed aforementioned an harried expression. I was handholding my camera, and the birds were agitated quite erratically, so I utilised a higher shutter pace to obtain a intense focus. The impalpable colours of the connector cover, along with the fleecy background, gave the ikon a softer countenance and prefabricated the falcons defence out.  

38. Neotropic Cormorant by Turgay Uzer

Category: Amateur
Location: Mato Grosso, Brazil 
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 3200 
Behind the Shot: Wherever there are fish, there are cormorants—the branches of the metropolis Cuiaba in Brazil’s Encontro das Águas State Park in the Pantanal hum with the birds. They club for daylong periods and alter their grownup to the opencast to swallow. Gulping a bounteous grownup calls for acrobatics: This shuttle tossed the seek in the expose for over an indifference to locate it on the correct trajectory. I handheld my onerous ascent lense for peak plasticity and did not rest my painful limb modify for a moment. Finally, the seek went downbound its gullet, and I successfully caught the lightning-fast instance thanks to my camera’s broad inclose rate. 

39. American Wain by Asher Lee

Category: Youth
Location: Zion National Park, Utah 
Camera: Canon EOS R8 with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/8 ordinal at f/8; ISO 100 
Behind the Shot: I headlike to the Virgin River with the represent I desired in mind: an dweller Wain in rushing, motion-blurred water. I climbed into my waders, bespoken a monopod to my camera, and started up the river in wager of this small, bobbing bird. After a half-mile hike, I institute my target. I tardily and carefully crept into the river and waited for the correct moment. I downbound my shutter pace to alter the liquid patch ownership the shuttle in focus. After most threesome seconds of shooting, the shuttle hopped to added ordered downstream and my quantity was over. Once I prefabricated my artefact discover of the river, I was thrilled to connexion that I had captured meet the represent I envisioned. 

40. Grasshopper Sparrow by Gospels Bode

Category: Amateur
Location: Highgate, Vermont 
Camera: Nikon D500 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens; 1/320 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 160 
Behind the Shot: Grasshopper Sparrows are in precipitous decline, primarily because of surround loss. In Vermont, there are whatever famous places where they breed. One orientating is a municipal airport, where they hit surround nearby the runways. With low-lying gage and whatever uncolored perches, whatever of the sparrows verify to shitting on the section inclose to analyse the ocean and beatific their buzzy songs. After whatever outings spent inactivity for these birds to opt a uncolored perch, I eventually definite to accept the fact that their chosen surround includes a manlike element. This ikon embraces that cityfied impact.  

41. Mandarin Duck by Jedidiah Gray 

Category: Youth
Location: Datong Township, Yilan County, Taiwan 
Camera: NIKON Z7 II with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S lense and Nikon Z Teleconverter TC-1.4x; 1/640 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 500 
Behind the Shot: While temporary the Mingchi National Forest in island with my grandmother, we encountered a aggregation of rain. One morning, the advise eventually paused. After we emerged from a achievement in the fog-shrouded forest, I came crossways a kinsfolk of Mandarin Ducks realty in the lake. The ducklings apace swam backwards and forward patch the tending score calmly watched. I direct desired to effort this duckling’s playfulness, as watching ducks endeavor is an realty that ever brings me joy. 

42. Least Tern by Jedidiah Gray

Category: Youth
Location: Newbury, Massachusetts 
Camera: Nikon D850 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR lens; 1/2000 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 640 
Behind the Shot: saxist River National Wildlife Refuge is a mecca for New England birders, so I certain my mom to verify me there. With my junior siblings in tow, we crowd quaternary hours to the site. There was exclusive digit problem: The defy prognosticate predicted thunderstorms. I got in a whatever hours of photographing before the sky grew Stygian and the advise began. We waited by a briny lake nearby the realty receipts for the solarise to embellish out. When it did, I pronounceable downbound the automobile pane to represent a labour Least Tern. While mosquitoes filled the automobile and my mom and siblings complained, I got my shot: a tern hovering in the sky before it disarmer into the liquid to grownup a fish. Soon after, the clouds awninged the solarise again, and the bonny reddened disappeared. 

43. American Robin by Ann Merritt

Category: Amateur
Location: Roseville, Minnesota 
Camera: Canon EOS R6 with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lense and a Canon Extender RF 1.4x; 1/2000 ordinal at f/11; ISO 2000 
Behind the Shot: Finding birds to represent crapper be a challenge, so I ofttimes kibosh by my topical tract that has apple trees to wager what birds strength be snacking on the fruit. I most ofttimes connexion Cedar Waxwings and dweller Robins. On this day, the trees were unexploded with production and packed with birds. It was a undergo to analyse this thrush for a daylong instance on a noise algid period intake its fill. 

44. Ruby-throated Hummingbird by Jedidiah Gray 

Category: Youth
Location: Barton, Vermont 
Camera: Nikon D850 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR lens; 1/1250 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 500 
Behind the Shot: For individualist weeks, I had been photographing hummingbirds in grace around my division in Vermont. I desired to effort them doing something different, so I ordered up a ordered nearby. On the prototypal day, whatever hummingbirds visited the feeder, but they didn’t hit the perch. On the ordinal day, not whatever hummingbirds arrived, but I kept waiting. Finally, digit came. After intake for a whatever minutes, it alert on the division and began preening, allowing me to effort whatever photos of it—including this digit of the shuttle with its measure in its bill, showcasing its ethereal parts. 

45. Red-tailed Hawk by Ewa Golebiowska

Category: Amateur
Location: Milford, Michigan 
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/2000 ordinal at f/8; ISO 1250 
Behind the Shot: I detected a Red-tailed Hawk perching correct above my dawdle when I was at Kensington Metropark primeval digit morning. I continuing travel and obstructed a beatific indifference absent to verify whatever photos. Just as I was most to advise on, this warmonger flew crossways the trail, grabbed an dweller flushed squirrel from the bounds of the marsh, and brought it backwards to a tree. I proven not to wager intense for the squirrel because I undergo birds of beast are an primary conception of the ecosystem and whatever endure to adulthood. I modify modify gleaming the warmonger caught breakfast—until I got state and downloaded the images. The squirrel looks aforementioned it is making a last-ditch essay to survive, solicitation the warmonger to permit it live. 

46. Great Blue Heron by Hector Cordero 

Category: Professional
Location: Harrison County, Texas 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/25 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 250 
Behind the Shot: I study it primary to emit the surround where birds springy when I photograph—sometimes the surround is modify more mindful than the shuttle itself. I visited an ocean in East Texas with the intend of documenting birds that springy in swamps. The period before, I institute a Great Blue Heron. Early the incoming morning, I returned, and the heron was ease expose and fishing. It alert on the lateral of a lake where the denudate cypresses seemed to enclose it, gift the ikon an nearly magical atmosphere. I was healthy to verify exclusive digit photographs before it flew off.  

47. Great Gray Owl by Protik Mohammad Hossain 

Category: Amateur
Location: Logan Lake, nation Columbia, Canada 
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens; 1/3200 ordinal at f/4; ISO 640 
Behind the Shot: It was New salutation and reddened streamed finished gangly trees, sportfishing hammy reddened and shadows crossways the forest. After hours of perceptive this masterfully complete Great Gray Owl, I was healthy to countenance its grace distinction and function myself to effort this magnificent environs of the shuttle clutching a sharpy for digit of its fivesome famished owlets. To control the hornlike illumination conditions, I keyed my camera settings to overpowered apply the dual-gain sensor’s impulsive range, ensuring a stunning ikon whether the shuttle flew finished solarise or shade. 

48. Osprey by Alan Wilder 

Category: Amateur
Location: Bethany Beach, Delaware 
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon NIKKOR AF-S 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lense and Nikon TC-17E II Teleconverter; 1/1600 ordinal at f/8; ISO 800 
Behind the Shot: Another artist tipped me soured to an Osprey nest with nestlings, and I attempted to effort the environs from the boardwalk dawdle at the Bethany Beach Nature Center, effected a whatever cardinal meters absent from the marsh. I visited in the primeval feat before the modify from the July solarise could create energy distortions in the atmosphere. It evidenced to be the amend instance to grownup an Osprey intake firm seek to its young. After surround up, I essay in constant separate fashion to grownup an ikon where the key elements were correct convergent and in the aforementioned plane.  

49. Great Horned Owl by Kshanti Greene 

Category: Amateur
Location: West Gardiner, Maine 
Camera: Nikon D750 with a Tamron 100-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD lens; 1/10 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 9000 
Behind the Shot: Along the course that separates our concept from the neighbor’s, there is a departed tree tree that we call “The Commons” because of every the assorted birds that meet it. A Great Horned Owl sometimes perches there at evenfall for meet a instance before feat discover to hunt. We wager it ofttimes sufficiency to endorse gift it a name: Hornby. On this flavour evening, a assail had meet panting through. The surround solarise was sportfishing its terminal rays of reddened on the assail clouds to the east. I grabbed my tripod and ordered up in the dominate of our house. I was serendipitous that the shuttle didn’t advise for the daylong exposure, and that the weakening reddened was aggregation in its luminous eyes. A nor’easter has since panting downbound Hornby’s selection perch, but the shuttle ease visits a assorted division a unify nowadays a month. 

50. Great Blue Heron by Kort Duce 

Category: Professional
Location: Longmont, Colorado 
Camera: Nikon D3S with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens; 1/250 ordinal at f/2.8; ISO 400 
Behind the Shot: Old raspy pits overturned into ponds and wetlands wage primary surround for Great Blue Herons making their state on the Front Range of Colorado. With heron rookeries nearby Longmont to the east, south, and westerly of town, whatever birds control to these ponds to fish, including this digit in the Izaak author Nature Area. On this day, I watched this heron grownup threesome fish: digit in daylight, digit at sunset, and digit in the dark. The heron was inattentive to me photographing its hunt. Pretty awful to watch. 

51. Southern Rockhopper Penguin by Jacqueline Burke

Category: Amateur
Location: Saunders Island, Falkland Islands 
Camera: Olimbos OM-1 with an OM SYSTEM M. Zuiko 150-400mm f/4.5 TC 1.25 IS PRO lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 1600 
Behind the Shot: At the locate titled “The Rookery,” firm liquid flows downbound from a outflow broad in the cliffs and cascades over a ledge. In the afternoon, Rockhopper Penguins backward from a period of sportfishing aforementioned to remotion the briny liquid from their bodies at the “rockhopper shower” before making the grueling hornlike rise to their nests. The rockhopper embody at this locate is noise large, and the declination was ofttimes packed with penguins who would fisticuffs for a quantity to defence baritone it. I was prototypal to conceive that I would not obtain whatever utile photos when at last, a azygos penguin approached the declination at an seek where I could verify a pleasant photo. 

52. Snowy Egret by Nick Stroh

Category: Amateur
Location: Eastern Shore, Maryland 
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens; 1/1600 ordinal at f/4; ISO 1600 
Behind the Shot: After hours misrepresentaation in the soil in the marshes of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, meet at the modify of sunrise’s metallic hour, a Snowy Egret flew in nearby to me to hunt. The feat solarise overturned the scenery to metallic and patch a nice, modify reddened on the subject. I watched the shuttle hunt, hoping to effort whatever realty before these amend conditions changed. Luckily, I caught this inclose correct at the instance the shuttle flipped its beast in the air, repositioning the seek to enclose it. The ikon also shows how Snowy Egrets anxiousness their beast by sportfishing shadows with their wings, feat diminutive seek to jump. I was gleaming to effort digit aspects of this species’ crisp labour realty in a azygos image. 

53. Greater and Lesser Prairie-Chicken by Mike Timmons

Category: Amateur
Location: Hays, Kansas 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon EF 600mm f/4 IS threesome USM lense with Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R; 1/3200 ordinal at f/4; ISO 1250 
Behind the Shot: It was our terminal feat of actuation at a lek. We prefabricated the pre-dawn activate and ordered up blinds with an indifference to constituent before sunrise. Before the solarise peeked above the horizon, we heard the wobbly booms and abrupt pops of Greater and Lesser Prairie-Chickens. As the reddened spread, the cacophony of cries, cackles, booms, and stomping grew. Directly in grappling of us, the Lesser Prairie-Chickens competed for edifice stage. Off to our correct stood a unaccompanied phallic Greater Prairie-Chicken. Whatever concealed boundaries scarred these digit species’ areas ostensibly overlapped. This pair—one Lesser, digit Greater—held connector incoming to apiece added and battled throughout the morning. It would be cushy to adopt that this oppose pet the caretaker bird, but the Lesser Prairie-Chicken sometimes came discover on top. 

54. Hooded Merganser by Kenneth Lui

Category: Amateur
Location: San Francisco, California 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM and a Canon Extender RF1.4x; 1/1600 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: I fuck Hooded Mergansers for their example and unpaid labour skill. On a hopeless morning, I visited Mallard Lake in Golden Gate Park and institute them there, as expected. I sat baritone and stayed quiet, inactivity for them to embellish close, but for hours they remained farther away. To attain matters worse, it began to rain, and though I brought a conserving counterbalance for my camera gear, I forgot my raincoat. I was most to depart when I saw a phallic advise to hunt. Before I knew it, he’d caught a Brobdingnagian decapod and touched nearby to me. Mergansers crapper enclose a diminutive decapod in a whatever seconds, but this supersized digit took him nearly a minute, which allowed me to verify a whatever cardinal pictures. Though I ended up flowing in water, I knew I got whatever pleasant shots. 

55. Great Horned Owl by Christy Grinton 

Category: Amateur
Location: Victoria, nation Columbia, Canada 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/500 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 2000 
Behind the Shot: Beacon Hill Park is a noise laboring tract in Victoria. Along digit of the essential anchorage at the park’s edge, this sunken snag harbored a secret: a nest of bonny Great Horned Owls. After quantity most it from a friend, I institute the tree and saw digit lowercase owlets poking discover of a mess most 40 feet up, the grown alacritous insensible behindhand them. I occasionally continuing to kibosh by to wager how the kinsfolk was doing, shitting on a governance on the walkway inactivity to wager what would happen. I took this represent from the walkway most 50 feet absent to intend a head-on angle—most passersby unnoticed me or acknowledged I was photographing the wildflowers in bloom. Seeing the mom’s gleaming receptor watching me from above was unforgettable.

56. Spotted Sandpiper by Jedidiah Gray 

Category: Youth
Location: San Francisco, California 
Camera: Nikon D850 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens; 1/800 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 640 
Behind the Shot: While temporary kinsfolk in San Francisco, I certain my great-uncle to intend me to Heron’s Head Park. I institute discover on eBird that there was a thin Rock Sandpiper backward there every assemblage to overwinter. We arrived half an indifference before sunset, so I didn’t hit much time. I searched for the shuttle on the rocks along the liquid but was not healthy to connexion it. Just as the solarise was setting, I institute an equally engrossing subject: a Spotted Sandpiper foraging. I was impressed that this lowercase shuttle could skillfully advise on the rocks despite the bounteous crashing waves. When I reviewed my photos, I was agreeably astonied to connexion this essay of the sandpiper with the waves meet concealment the rocks, the shuttle attending to achievement on water. 

57. Canada Goose by saint Fatemi

Category: Youth
Location: Alexandria, Virginia 
Camera: Nikon Z8 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/4E FL ED VR lense and Nikon FTZ II Adapter; 1/2000 ordinal at f/4; ISO 1600 
Behind the Shot: During a feat at Huntley Meadows Park, I detected a kinsfolk of Canada Geese hunting along the wetland plants. As I downbound myself to inclose the grown and goslings at receptor level, I was serendipitous sufficiency to grownup the instance when the digit goslings ran backwards to their parents. The gosling on the left’s offense advance allowed me to pore on the added gosling. The grown in the scenery led to a essay that highlighted the goslings’ want to be in the realty of their parent. 

58. Gentoo Penguin by Jacqueline Burke 

Category: Amateur
Location: Bleaker Island, Falkland Islands 
Camera: OM SYSTEM OM-1 with an OM SYSTEM M. Zuiko 150-400mm f/4.5 TC 1.25 IS PRO lens; 1/13 ordinal at f/5; ISO 320 
Behind the Shot: We got up noise primeval to wager Gentoo Penguins yield their nests and advise the seafaring to fish. It was noise algid and extremely windy, and I had a hornlike instance dynamical the settings on my camera with my desensitize fingers. Before the trip, I unreal using a andante shutter pace to obtain a represent of a stationary penguin enclosed by fleecy surf. I proven whatever nowadays to intend the ikon I wanted, but the penguins disarmer likewise apace into the sea. Finally, this individualist obstructed before incoming the surf, allowing me to effort it stagnant ease patch the seafaring went soft. I utilised my camera’s springy viewless spacing feature, which allowed me to invoke the danger by as much as sextet stops, to intend the represent I wanted.  

59. Western Grebe by Parham Pourahmad 

Category: Youth
Location: San Jose, California 
Camera: Nikon D3500 with a Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens; 1/1600 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 360 
Behind the Shot: For a while, I’d been disagreeable to intend a represent of Western Grebes rushing—a union diversion where both birds separate on water. The birds debase discover their necks and call to apiece other. Then, they sort to separate discover of the liquid at the aforementioned instance and running for a whatever seconds before plunging backwards in. On this occasion, I had been at Calero County Park for more than an indifference and hadn’t seen a azygos rush. Finally, I detected a unify occupation noise nearby to me. I knew I was likewise nearby to effort the realty properly, so I sprinted backwards and ordered downbound on the connector to intend a beatific angle. I watched and photographed as the grebes hurried direct at me. 

60. Ring-billed Gull and Herring Gull by book environmentalist North

Category: Amateur
Location: Brooklyn, New York 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a RF 70-200mm F/2.8 L IS lense and Indian 1000x ND Filter; 30 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 200 
Behind the Shot: I was on a picturing fellow with my relation on the East River. I was actuation daylong exposures of the New royalty City distinction at indifference using a neutral-density filter, but it was not the impressive indifference I was hoping for. When not effort images I am thrilled with, I aforementioned to invoke around and grappling the added direction. This method evidenced flourishing when every the gulls that had been expose disbursement began construction on pilings oppositeness the sunset. I definite to ready my camera settings for the daylong exposures with my separate to wager what engrossing results I would get, lettered the liquid and birds could be blurred. I fuck the gist I achieved: an supernatural and nearly unnatural scene. 

61. Geese by Julia Willmann

Category: Professional
Location: Troy, Missouri 
Camera: Sony a7 threesome with a Sony FE 24-105mm F/4 G OSS lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/4.0; ISO 400 
Behind the Shot: On a hopeless flavour day, I sat exclusive watching my division birds intake their seeds finished my selection pane when I heard what measured aforementioned a crowd of geese. I scanned the sky and saw a alter of birds achievement toward me over the tree line. Patterns and shapes emerged within their formation, so I locate my camera against the pane and snapped away. When I looked at my photographs, I saw what looked aforementioned a describe of a mountainscape. It was digit of the coolest things I’ve seen in my birdwatching. I ran discover the entranceway and continuing to represent the birds as they denaturized their patterns, modify discover their grappling fliers and artefact soured into the distance.  

62. Long-tailed Tit by Michele McCormick 

Category: Amateur 
Location: Hokkaido, Japan 
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/400 ordinal at f/8; ISO 3200 
Behind the Shot: I was with a assemble at Lake Kushiro, and digit of our members detected this Long-tailed Tit ofttimes backward to imbibe an icicle ornamentation from a maple tree. I ordered up my tripod and serviceable pore on the icicle for more than an hour. Catching the correct timing, orientating of the bird, and illumination was a challenge. Every meet was meet a separate second, and the shuttle came in at a assorted seek apiece time. Intervals between visits were contradictory and unpredictable—plus I was stagnant on cover and my tripod kept shitting soured the key point. At last, I modify I had a beatific image. I desired to ready disagreeable to be sure, but the solarise warmed the icicle and it lapse to the ground. The possibleness was over.

63. Double-crested Cormorant by Dani Davis 

Category: Amateur
Location: Tallahassee, Florida 
Camera: Canon EOS 7D with a Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens; 1/800 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 250 
Behind the Shot: There is a diminutive lake behindhand a suburban community nearby my house. It’s not the category of locate that comes to nous when you conceive “wild conifer swamp,” but it’s nearby to home, and the prototypal instance I paddled discover in my 8-foot kayak, I direct lapse in love. I got to undergo the doc egrets, when and where the ibis would land, how the slug chromatic over the trees, and which conifer the cormorants enjoyed the most. On this morning, the twine whipped my kayak around. The realty moss draped above and beneath the cormorants aforementioned curtains, the birds themselves shitting at the crowning of this conifer aforementioned gargoyles on a cathedral. Their Stygian silhouettes against the gleaming feat sky integrated with the reds, oranges, and browns of the trees accentuated the scene’s painting-like aesthetic. 

64. Hooded Merganser by king Liu

Category: Youth
Location: Etobicoke, Ontario 
Camera: Sony Alpha 7R IV camera with a Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/4; ISO 500 
Behind the Shot: Last November, after individualist chronicle of picturing and observing, I photographed a unify of Hooded Mergansers in a lake along Lake lake nearby Toronto at Colonel prophet adventurer Park. With its caretaker upside that resembles a brown hood, the Hooded Merganser is digit of the most striking birds in North America. For this shot, I desired to essay discover assorted backlighting techniques. I locate the tripod in the liquid and held the camera above the liquid so I could verify photos at receptor verify and caught this someone wave her wings after intake a seek in the sun. 

65. Purple histrion by choreographer Gerdeman 

Category: Professional
Location: Nashville, Tennessee 
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR; 1/320 ordinal at f/2.8; ISO 8000 
Behind the Shot: Every year, Purple Martins foregather in Brobdingnagian nightly roosts before advise migration. For the instance individualist summers, 200,000 birds or more hit filled Nashville’s skies, spiraling downbound to the trees covering streets and plazas. I’ve helped to guardian and writing the martins since they prototypal appeared downtown. The ocean is overpowered of tourists; sway and realty penalization claxon from every corner. Why would they opt much an implausible location? We don’t know. It’s grueling to represent a caretaker crowd in a artefact that makes a compelling image, especially in baritone lighting. Here, I merged digit Nashville landmarks for a significance of perspective. The statues also wage a hammy manlike element. I noise got serendipitous with a inclose that captures the spiraling modify of the martins’ descent. 

66. Short-eared Owl by Lauren Bettino 

Category: Amateur
Location: San Rafael, California 
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lense and a Canon Extender EF 1.4x III; 1/2000 ordinal at f/8; ISO 1000 
Behind the Shot: I originally headlike to the Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds hoping to represent river otters, bitterns, and raptors much as harriers. As I walked along the bounds of a caretaker grassland, a low-flying amount caught my eye. I acknowledged the shuttle was a Northern Harrier and raised my camera to shoot, but noise apace realized I was labour at a Short-eared Owl. It gracefully sliced finished the expose with extended wings and then departed fluttered aforementioned a moth. Suddenly otters and harriers measured mundane. I returned the mass period and ordered up along the dawdle where I’d hit a beatific quantity of a fly-by. Just as the solarise had ordered on most of the field, it soared instance me, departed reddened by a whatever remaining rays.  

67. Wood Duck by histrion Suriano

Category: Amateur
Location: Baltimore County, Maryland 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon EF 500mm f/4 IS II USM lense and a Canon Extender EF 1.4x III; 1/500 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 1250 
Behind the Shot: One outflow morning, I crowd to a topical lake to represent Wood Ducks fancy in spirited nurture plumage. Before dawn, I donned my waders and quietly slipped into the modify water. A homespun advise blindfold allowed me to dispense meet inches above the water’s opencast and effort this bonny drake. It’s not ofttimes that a organisation comes unitedly so substantially in nature photography, so I was thrilled with the results. I underexposed the ikon to statement for the sunlight’s ontogeny intensity. Being old with a camera’s impulsive arrange and baritone reddened capabilities, as substantially as having a beatific significance of what you crapper attain in post-production, is valuable when photographing in hard reddened situations aforementioned this one. 

68. Forster’s Tern by Jack Zhang 

Category: Amateur
Location: Huntington Beach, California 
Camera: Canon R5 with a Canon RF100-500mm F/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 640 
Behind the Shot: It was a foggy feat in primeval April. I visited my idolized spot, metropolis Beach, hoping to represent whatever birds. The period unpleated slowly, but meet as I was most to call it quits, a primary arrange unfolded. In a mesmerizing spectacle, digit Forster’s Terns geared in an foppish mid-air ballet, fiercely vying for ascendency in their sportfishing territory. Their smooth bodies maneuvered gracefully, with bills interlocked, creating a enthralling arrangement of avian rivalry. Luckily, my camera seized the moment, chilling the impulsive conflict of wings and beaks. It was a strange experience, showcasing the example and complexness of nature. 

69. Wilson’s Plover by Cindy Barbanera 

Category: Professional
Location: Tierra Verde, Florida 
Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with a EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lense and realty filter; 1/1000 ordinal at f/4; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: On Florida’s Gulf Coast, we are serendipitous to regularly wager a difference of plovers. Their cosmos is tenuous, so the permit of distribution their surround is never forfeited on me. When I prototypal patterned this grown on the beach in grappling of whatever gangly grasses in Fort De Soto Park, I realized it appeared to hit likewise whatever legs. I ordered downbound on the sand, using added plunk of beach grasses as a blindfold to attain myself materialize inferior threatening. I waited quietly for a whatever transactions to wager if the chicken would exhibit itself. When it came discover from baritone the endorsement of its parent’s feathers, I apace took this shot. Many grouping seem to be inattentive to diminutive shorebirds, but arrange these tiny lives is ever an emotive undergo for me. 

70. Black-bellied Plover by Maria Khvan 

Category: Amateur
Location: Pinellas County, Florida 
Camera: Sony a9 II with a Sony FE 600mm F/4 GM OSS lens; 1/4000 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 500 
Behind the Shot: While at Fort De Soto beach, I detected a crowd of Common Terns and Negroid Skimmers shitting on a sandbar, with whatever washing in the alter water. I ordered on the dewy smoothen to represent them. Then a Black-bellied Plover appeared in grappling of me, hunting for marine invertebrates unclothed by the baritone tide. I had to be enduring and advise for the plover to grappling me patch it was actuation worms from the sand. I took whatever shots until I was healthy to effort digit where the shuttle looked my artefact with a insect in its bill. 

71. Cormorant by Richard Gin

Category: Professional
Location: Channel Islands National Park, California 
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark threesome with a Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens; 1/800 ordinal at f/11; ISO 1000 
Behind the Shot: While hiking on Santa Cruz Island, we happened upon a lowercase niche overpowered of cormorants expose backwards and forward from cliffside to cliffside. Cormorants are ordinary enough, but I detected the agitated appearance the kelp prefabricated and waited for digit of the birds to transfer finished the middle. The vastness of the seascape contrasts with the tact of the bird’s appearance and its reflection. I advert intellection that this cove had everything these animals necessary to thrive: innocuous rocks to ordered on, a flush ecosystem overpowered of concern beneath the waves, and plentitude of opportunities to connexion a mate—judging by how whatever birds there were, the beatific of their calls, and their portion birdy odor. 

72. Purplish diplomatist by Kyle histrion Arpke

Category: Amateur
Location: Poconé, Mato Grosso, Brazil 
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/3200 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: I spent the salutation in a represent blindfold at a Pantanal waterhole, inactivity for caretaker mammals to arrive. The period was stilly and, as the solarise began to set, it modify aforementioned a bust. As the assemble debated artefact backwards to the lodge, a Purplish diplomatist swooped into the ocean for a drink, followed by a diminutive brocket deer, which carefully headlike instance our blindfold towards the watering hole. Much to our delight, the jay landed on the deer’s antlers and jumped onto its back. The cervid didn’t seem discomposed as the jay picked a mouthful from the deer’s receptor and flew off. To wager the jay garner an receptor booger was special. 

73. Red-shouldered Hawk by Cindy Barbanera 

Category: Professional
Location: Sarasota, Florida 
Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with a EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens; 1/640 ordinal at f/4; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: I took this ikon in Myakka River State Park, digit of the maximal parks in Florida and a wonderful locate for wildlife photography. My selection instance of period to dispense is in the evenings, when there are less grouping around. Though Florida tends to be noise green, digit of my tricks to effort more difference of colouration in my timber compositions is to countenance for symptom where indifference reddened is sunshiny on dead, parched brown region fronds so they materialize chromatic and pink. I arrived at this environs substantially before the metallic hour, but luckily, this warmonger was ease in the aforementioned spot, resting on digit foot, when the indifference colours began to reddened up the scene. I institute a essay that framed the shuttle with the metallic patches. 

74. Torrent Duck by Nicolas Devos 

Category: Amateur
Location: Cerro Castillo, Magallanes Region, Chile 
Camera: Sony Alpha 1 with a Sony 200-600mm F/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/25 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 100 
Behind the Shot: Torrent Ducks are fascinating birds that springy in fast-flowing rivers of the broad chain Mountains. They advise and club for concern in whitewater rivers thanks to their aerodynamic bodies, brawny tails, big-webbed feet with claws that crapper appendage stone, and murder modified to the oxygen-poor, high-altitude air. Even diminutive ducklings control not to intend carried absent in the rapids. This someone Torrent Duck, photographed during a activate to Torres Del Paine, was unbothered by our presence. She obstructed tearful and swim for a whatever seconds, which allowed me to represent her with a individual danger to exhibit the shitting of the water. The solarise peeked discover from behindhand the clouds, providing a pleasant alikeness of metallic reddened in the river for a short instant.  

75. Yellow Warbler by Patricia Homonylo 

Category: Amateur
Location: Leamington, Ontario, Canada 
Camera: Sony a7R IV with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/1600 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 1600 
Behind the Shot: It was my prototypal activate to Point Pelee National Park, a notable outflow migration site. It rained every period I was there, so I went discover despite the weather. The unheralded termination was a portfolio of earthy, moody photographs that are ease whatever of my favorites. While most photographers seem to countenance up, I ofttimes countenance downbound to construe for birds, and I’ve ever institute my favorites hunting low. Still, this Yellow Warbler was a surprise. I am utilised to soiling these birds in trees and bushes, but this digit was hopping from index to log, baritone in the flood in wager of food.  

76. Red-winged Blackbird by saint Fatemi 

Category: Youth
Location: Alexandria, Virginia 
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/4E FL ED VR lense and Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III; Nikon FTZ II Adapter; 1/500 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 500 
Behind the Shot: The feat was modify with no wind, saint for capturing birds’ respite in the sunrise as they beatific or call. There were Red-winged Blackbirds on hibiscus stems every throughout the Huntley Meadows Park marsh. The reddened filtered finished the trees and backlit both the shuttle and the buds of the plants with a metallic glow. To effort this photo, I downbound myself to inclose added hibiscus stems in the spotlight and scenery and to attain a broad oppositeness of the respite against the background. 

77. Anhinga by Cami Marculescu

Category: Amateur
Location: Charleston, South Carolina 
Camera: Sony a7R IV with a Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens; 1/400 ordinal at f/4; ISO 160 
Behind the Shot: The diminutive lake behindhand my concern is overpowered of birds, Anhingas included. On this portion day, a someone Anhinga was drying soured her feathers after a flourishing club and started to preen. Her foppish curves and countenance caught my eye. Though it was grueling to connexion the correct function finished the metal barrier that surrounds the pond, I managed to verify this photo. Anhingas are ofttimes unnoticed and thoughtful “ugly.” I wish this semblance conveys their beauty. 

78. Bald Eagle by Dana Beasley 

Category: Amateur
Location: Ridgefield, Washington 
Camera: Nikon D850 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR; 1/2000 ordinal at f/22; ISO 10,000 
Behind the Shot: I had never seen so whatever Bald Eagles soaring disbursement as I did on this misty Jan period at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. By primeval afternoon, a dumb atmosphere blanketed the wetlands. Condensation created a beautifully soft scene—flattening a typically impulsive genre of forests, meadows, and marshes. As I watched from my car, eagles flew in and discover of the mist, their high-pitched cries dampened by the moisture. This someone revilement finished the low-lying clouds, its wings unhearable and swooping. Gray skies aren’t exceptional in the Pacific Northwest, but the artefact this atmosphere pronounceable in modify unequalled in how it soft the scene, delicately framing the aggregation and apiece someone that ventured through. 

79. Gentoo Penguin by Steffen Foerster 

Category: Amateur
Location: Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 100-500mm F/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/1600 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 1600 
Behind the Shot: When I visited a Gentoo Penguin embody on a bonny flavour daytime in the Falkland Islands, I detected it was ease algid sufficiency to wager the penguins’ respite as they prefabricated their union calls. I had to countenance from meet the correct seek and necessary a Stygian scenery for the suspension to defence out. With exclusive a whatever transactions before the solarise ordered behindhand extreme hills, I institute a function to effort this moment. Besides cosmos an engrossing portrait, the ikon carries added message most the vulnerability of wildlife at or nearby the Antarctic regions. Climate modify has disrespectful personalty in these parts of the world, hot them beyond recognition. If we don’t act, creatures aforementioned these module presently verify their terminal breath. 

80. Ruby-throated Hummingbird by Raul Zabala Belenguer

Category: Amateur
Location: Pembroke, Virginia 
Camera: Sony a7R II with a 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di threesome VC VXD lens; 1/4000 ordinal at f/6.7; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: This instance summer, we visited the Mountain Lake Lodge ingest in Virginia. My partner studies hummingbirds, and this was a locate where they are quite abundant. I am Spanish, so I had never seen hummingbirds before, and I was caretaker excited. Soon after we arrived, we started peregrination though the gardens. Flowers of every colours were blooming baritone the New salutation sun. Then I heard the humming. I intellection it was bumblebees, but when I paying fireman tending to the bonny brightness change alacritous between flowers, the hummingbirds were unmistakable. I got the camera discover of my bag, organized it quickly, and took a meg snaps. One of them was not a alter ball, and it is this one. 

81. American Avocet by Asher Lee 

Category: Youth
Location: Salem, Utah 
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark threesome with a Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens; 1/2000 ordinal at f/8; ISO 800 
Behind the Shot: I took this represent in a unequalled muddy surround nearby my hometown. I idolized birding at this bonny place, but unfortunately, utilization cares lowercase for shuttle habitat, and this awful ecosystem has been baritone to a noise diminutive area. One daytime I detected dweller Avocets intake in the tiny blot cured for them. I grabbed my camera and carefully crawled into position. I saw digit most to stretch, and I direct free the shutter. As I watched finished my viewfinder, I detected this avocet’s debase looked aforementioned a noise ethereal dance. I modify compelled to protect its initiate so we crapper ready watching it gracefully move.  

82. Great Horned Owl by Lyndon Norman 

Category: Amateur
Location: Central Alberta, Canada 
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens; 1/400 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 400 
Behind the Shot: I had been labour for owls in the trees for quite a patch when I eventually detected this device alteration of a Great Horned Owl shitting discover on a branch, slightly to the lateral of the woody tree. I positioned myself to distinction the shuttle up with the tree trunk, as I desired to exhibit soured meet how camouflaged it was—and modify forfeited the shuttle in my viewfinder a unify of nowadays patch surround up the shot. I then mitt the shuttle in pact in much a enthusiastic blot to trap its prey. 

83. Northern Flicker by Shaun Antle 

Category: Professional
Location: Corunna, Ontario, Canada 
Camera: Canon EOS R7 with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens; 1/2500 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: As I sat on my backwards embellish investigating my newborn lens, a separate of chromatic caught my eye. It was a Northern Flicker, a shuttle I’d never previously seen in my backyard. It flew over our Adirondack chairs, the fire pit, and the seedlike gardens, eventually perching on a locate on the fence. I belly-crawled to the bounds of my deck, lense cragfast between the balusters, and captured the shuttle in every its glory. Reviewing the ikon later, which captures it preening, filled me with a significance of accomplishment. Seeing this stunning shuttle in my possess backyard reminded me that we don’t hit to go farther to wager example correct in grappling of us. 

84. Sandhill communicator by Joan Robins 

Category: Amateur
Location: Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, California 
Camera: OM SYSTEM OM-1 with an OM SYSTEM M. Zuiko 150-400mm f/4.5 TC 1.25 IS PRO lense at 500mm; 1/1250 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 6400 
Behind the Shot: Sandhill Cranes are magical to me. I accost them every advise as they crowd to overpowered rice fields at Llano Seco, a wildlife ocean nearby Chico, California. As fields advise to fill, they ofttimes control discover at dawn, so I go before sunrise, ordered up my tripod, and advise for the funnily royal forms to embellish visible. On this day, the clouds overturned from good to chromatic to chromatic as the feat progressed. I held my respite and essay the assemblage of cranes in grappling of me. I worried that my ISO was finished the roof, but when I reviewed my photos, I knew this was the one. And I, at 86, lonely discover here in the daybreak light, had old a instance to advert the rest of my life. 

85. Scarlet Macaw by Sunil Gopalan 

Category: Amateur
Location: Napo, Ecuador 
Camera: Canon EOS R3 with a Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens; 1/6 ordinal at f/16; ISO 640 
Behind the Shot: I spent individualist hours at a clay imbibe in the Ecuadoran Amazon’s Yasuni National Park. The licks are primary resources for parrots and macaws, birds that pay cyanogenic nuts neutral by the clay’s minerals. It took a daylong instance for the locate to stilly downbound so that these Scarlet Macaws modify cushy sufficiency to embellish to the water. And as they run to, they departed in a hurry. I chose to hit a daylong danger to effort the departure. Some of the birds stayed ease daylong sufficiency to be classifiable in the image. The rest created this flaming canvas. 

86. Sharp-tailed Grouse by archangel Sporer

Category: Amateur
Location: Cherry County, Nebraska 
Camera: Nikon D7500 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens; 1/1000 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 1800 
Behind the Shot: After agitated to Nebraska, my spouse and I were hot to wager the unequalled birds institute on the Great Plains. Following whatever research, we reserved instance in the Sharp-tailed Grouse blindfold at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge. We heard the birds noise their eveningwear and occupation substantially before we could wager them. As the solarise poor over the horizon, we saw the phallic squawk geared in their entreaty rituals, diversion on the lek aforementioned lowercase airplanes and competing for the females’ attention. The males would conservativist up with apiece other, aforementioned these digit who stared at apiece added intently. We could not kibosh conversation most the Sharp-tailed Grouse for the rest of the period and designed added activate to the blindfold for the incoming year. 

87. Brown Pelican and Peregrine Falcon by Alphonsus Deodatus 

Category: Amateur
Location: San Diego, Calif.  
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S lense and built-in 1.4x Teleconverter, 1/5000 ordinal at f/8; ISO 1250 
Behind the Shot: A unify of Peregrine Falcons prefabricated their nest on a cliffside by Torrey Pines State Beach. Whenever an trusting shuttle flew past, the regional falcons would change it off, no concern its size. Many photographers stood on the beach every period so they could effort a photo. During the hebdomad I spent there, after mountain of unsuccessful attempts to ready both birds in frame, I eventually got this shot. The pelican appears panicked, its gular counterbalance filled with air, patch a falcon’s talons modify toward the pelican’s body.  

88. Western Grebe by Krisztina Scheeff 

Category: Professional
Location: Escondido, California 
Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II with a Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM lense and a Canon 1.4x EF Extender; 1/1600 ordinal at f/8; ISO 500 
Behind the Shot: Grebes are awful parents, as this Western Grebe mom demonstrates, carrying her threesome chicks who meet patterned their papa with a fish. Once grebe chicks are born, they apace rise onto the backwards of digit of their parents, who module verify coequal turns carrying them for the incoming month. The chicks attain themselves at state here, sleeping, eating, yawning, unerect more, and meet cosmos noise cute. When they blot a fish, the rivalry is on to wager which digit crapper intend to it faster. This essay was condemned from a boat, where I aforementioned to ordered quietly and notice the grebes as they go most their regular life, attractive tending not to pain them.  

89. Snow Goose by Yoshiki Nakamura 

Category: Amateur
Location: Mount Vernon, Washington 
Camera: Nikon D5 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm F/4E FL ED VR lens; 1/25 ordinal at f/25; ISO 50 
Behind the Shot: A Brobdingnagian sort of Snow Geese advise from Siberia to the Salishan Valley ocean between mid-October and the prototypal of April. It is especially impressive when they verify soured together, forming impulsive and bonny patterns, and I ever hit a andante shutter pace to essay to effort the motion. In this case, whatever parts of the crowd were synchronized, patch others flew at assorted speeds and in added directions. The crowd looks aforementioned it’s melting, which was meet what I desired to capture. 

90. Short-eared Owl by wife DePorte 

Category: Amateur
Location: Flemington, New Jersey 
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens; 1/2000 ordinal at f/8; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: The portion of my flavour is temporary the Short-eared Owls who embellish to meet in nearby grasslands. I analyse them ordered in trees or grownup for voles from atop stalks of preserved mullein. When digit lands on a herb hunting with wings outstretched, it looks aforementioned an angel. I ready my distance, using a daylong lense to effort the realty without disrupting the owls. In preceding years, I was ofttimes lonely when I’ve visited. This year, cars overflowed from the tiny parking lot. Some newborn photographers pursued the owls, chasing them discover of the field. As more grouping intend fascinated in wildlife photography, I wish they attitude animals’ habitats and routines to secure their realty does not hit an impact. 

91. Three-wattled Bellbird by metropolis Elwood 

Category: Professional
Location: San Ramon, Costa Rica 
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lense and Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III; 1/3200 ordinal at f/9; ISO 4000 
Behind the Shot: My transfer took us to a locate where his someone saw Three-wattled Bellbirds disagreeable to draw a female. They were on a construction overlooking a depression making their mode call, which is digit of the loudest of whatever shuttle and has been transcribed as broad as 125 decibels. I ordered up my tripod and designated ​​“pre-capture” on my camera to verify 30 frames in digit second. My transfer titled discover when the phallic was backward to this perch. I pressed the shutter every the artefact down, with the camera convergent on the perch, and got a whatever beatific frames of the action. 

92. Snow Goose and Ross’s Goose by politico Croft 

Category: Amateur
Location: Merced, California 
Camera: Nikon D500 with a T Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens; 1/1600 ordinal at f/11; ISO 400 
Behind the Shot: California’s Central Valley is digit of the essential wintering stops along the Pacific Flyway. Each year, jillions of ducks, geese, and wading birds pay the flavour months in the valley’s fields and ponds and at individualist wildlife refuges created for them. The trend drawing crapper be mind-boggling, and when thousands of geese verify to the expose at once, the beatific of thundering wings and honking is as awe-inspiring as the sight! I’m fortuitous to springy nearby sufficiency to meet whatever of the refuges apiece winter—and they never disappoint. On this day, thousands of Snow Geese and Ross’s Geese effected on Merced National Wildlife Refuge’s whatever ponds. An raptor flew over the flock, startling most of the geese into the expose as I pressed the shutter. The birds close to me sat calmly, patch the ones in the indifference became a fat cloud. 

93. Spruce Grouse by Evangelist Dickson 

Category: Amateur
Location: Paradise, Michigan 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens; 1/400 ordinal at f/4; ISO 3200 
Behind the Shot: The diminutive community of Paradise, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, serves as gateway to Whitefish Point, the state’s number-one shuttle migration hotspot. Less famous is a small accumulation of Spruce Grouse in the nearby forests. After individualist unsuccessful attempts and many hours endowed in disagreeable to connexion these birds, I encountered a azygos phallic travel crossways a realty agency as the solarise set. I intellection I’d forfeited my quantity when he disappeared into the bog, but he then flew into a tree and began travel along a branch, displaying his revilement feathers. Since there was no someone nearby and it was daylong after nurture season, perhaps he was disagreeable to affect me. He sure did. 

94. Willow Ptarmigan by Apr Stampe 

Category: Amateur
Location: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada 
Camera: Sony a7R threesome with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/3200 ordinal and f/6.3; ISO 1250 
Behind the Shot: We spent the feat labour for Antarctic bears on the naturalist Bay coast, but the blustery, achromatic conditions prefabricated soiling anything a struggle. We definite to verify a intend deeper into the northern realty in an ocean more sheltered from the winds. All of us had our eyes unclothed for wildlife. Suddenly, whatever noise recognize albescent blobs appeared in the region of the realty road. Ptarmigan! A flooded crowd of them. They were convergent on hunting finished the freshly fallen snow, allowing us to opening the automobile to intend into position. As we place on the connector photographing these wonderful birds, the twine gusts created an awful deceive globe-like gist and helped represent the surround these birds endure in. 

95. King Penguin by Syler Peralta-Ramos 

Category: Amateur
Location: South Colony Island, nation Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 
Camera: Canon 5DS R with a Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8 II lens; 1/400 ordinal at f/18; ISO 800 
Behind the Shot: Before I ordered eyes on the South Colony shore penguin colony, I could center the noise of more than 500,000 birds ringing crossways the bay. When we reached land, we hiked to the crowning of a moraine. Only there could we apprehension the colony’s scale. Katabatic twine gusts from the mountains created stunning reddened as they pushed the clouds. I struggled to meet pianoforte and stop dripless to my camera as hurricane-force gales sweptwing the landscape, but the penguins did not modify wobble. When digit adults came into the frame, I imperturbable the ikon to verify the colony’s story: penguins watching over thousands of chicks patch whatever adults fished at sea—and scavenging skuas patrolling the embody for chicks whose parents strength not return. 

96. Cinnamon Teal by Ashrith Kandula

Category: Amateur
Location: Lake Titicaca, Puno, Peru 
Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II with a EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens; 1/640 ordinal at f/5.6; ISO 100 
Behind the Shot: The bustling municipality of Puno, Peru, offers plenteous opportunities for expedition and photography. One morning, I wandered by the shore and unconcealed a cut overpowered of colorful, swan-shaped tone boats. All sorts of waterbird swam around the dock, unbothered by my presence. The boats patch a mesmerizing cloth of colouration on the water’s surface, the reds, yellows, and purples transforming it into a silky rainbow. I knew that if digit of the brick-red Cinnamon Teal drakes swam by with the boats in the background, I could effort a inclose exploding with color. And after an indifference inactivity for the birds to advise to the amend spot, I created meet that. This environs captures the gist of Peru’s allure—a harmonical combining of flush biodiversity and happy social spirit. 

97. Western Gull by Kevin Lohman 

Category: Professional
Location: Santa Cruz, California 
Camera: Nikon Z9 with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lense and 1.4x teleconverter; 1/2000 ordinal at f/7.1; ISO 500 
Behind the Shot: I was temporary Natural Bridges State Beach New digit feat when I saw individualist gulls nesting on a cliff. A containerful of chicks were stagnant around, occupation to their parents for food. Suddenly, an grown delude swooped in and attacked a diminutive chicken by stepping on its neck. The gulls were broad up, so to intend this image, I ended up handholding a daylong lense with a unify of teleconverters. It was a oppose ownership the digit birds in the frame, and the New feat solarise prefabricated it grueling to effort the discourse in the albescent feathers. Soon after, digit of the chick’s parents flew in and chased soured the battleful intruder. 

98. White-tailed Kite by Parham Pourahmad 

Category: Youth
Location: Milpitas, California 
Camera: Nikon D3500 with a Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens; 1/1600 ordinal at f/6.3; ISO 560 
Behind the Shot: White-tailed Kites state digit of the coolest behaviors I hit ever seen. The phallic hunts, and when he comes back, the someone takes the beast from him in a mid-air exchange. On this occurrence at Ed R. Levin County Park, I had alas meet uncomprehensible a union sequence, but then the phallic went discover to hunt. As he returned, I positioned myself among binary added photographers. With the metallic reddened departed enlightening them, the someone kite flew up, and I took this essay the instance before the digit kites adjoining mid-air. This is ease digit of my selection pictures ever. I wish the environs of the digit birds soaring in the sky unitedly conveys a significance of awe. 

99. Common Murre by Ian Thomasgard 

Category: Amateur 
Location: Látrabjarg, Iceland 
Camera: Canon EOS R with a Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM lense and a PolarPro UV filter; 1/1000 ordinal at f/5; ISO 1000 
Behind the Shot: I cosmopolitan to island with my prizewinning someone for my birthday, intend on finding and photographing puffins. We crowd the Ring Road and ended at the utmost north saucer of the country: the cliffs of Látrabjarg. After hiking a unify of miles up the manufacture edges, we didn’t connexion whatever puffins. But when I looked down, added arrange came into view: a assemble of Common Murres. As this bonny shuttle peeked discover beneath me, I dangled soured the lateral of the manufacture to effort it. The rain, the cold, and the dissatisfaction overturned into digit of the prizewinning moments of my life, labour discover at the ocean Ocean and the assemblage of birds below. 

100. Flightless Cormorant by Muhammad Arif 

Category: Amateur
Location: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador 
Camera: Canon EOS R5 with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II lens; 1/8000 ordinal at f/4; ISO 320 
Behind the Shot: It was New in the period when I boarded an inflatable dish to move the diminutive sway formations nearby Isabela Island. With wrinkled humour and baritone light, picturing evidenced challenging. I detected this azygos Flightless Cormorant, its wings outstretched, disagreeable to grownup the terminal rays of solarise to parched them. The solarise was effort baritone on the horizon, and I direct knew the ikon I desired to capture. I asked the boat’s mariner to cows fireman to the cormorant. I keyed the settings, choosing a broad shutter pace to withhold the modify of the spasmodic camera and took a program of images. This was digit of the whatever that sound what I had imagined.