Every year, the annual Bird Photographer of the Year competition blows us away with the beauty and drama of their shots. The winners of this year's competition have just been announced, and the standard is as high as ever.
The winning image shows a protective peregrine falcon heading off a much larger brown pelican that had got too close to her young in a nearby nest, demonstrating the speed and agility of the falcon in flight.
“Each image is not merely a testament to the immense talent of our photographers, but a poignant reminder of the breathtaking beauty of birds,” says Will Nicholls, Director of Bird Photographer of the Year.
“The astonishing calibre of these photographs underscores a vital message: let us champion the cause of conservation so that future generations can marvel at the real-life inspirations behind these extraordinary images.”
The Young Bird Photographer of the Year 2023 was awarded to 17-year-old German photographer Anton Trexler for his incredibly atmospheric image of a blackbird silhouetted against the Moon.
In our gallery, we bring you our favourites from the Bird Photographer of the Year competition.
Bird behaviour category – A mother's love
Great Grey Owls (Strix nebulosa) photographed in Zhejiang, China. Photo by Qiuqing Mu/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Birds in flight category – Flying sword
A sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera) photographed in Bogotá, Colombia. This hummingbird species has the longest bill relative to its size and is common in the Andean forests. Photo by Rafael Armada/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Comedy bird category – More fish, please!
A juvenile king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) begs the adult for food on Saunders Island, Falkland Islands. Photo by Levi Fitze/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Urban birds category – Urban paradise
Flocks of great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) fly over the skyline of Shenzhen, China. Photo by Xiaoke Wang/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Black and white category – Fascinating droplet
A young musk duck (Biziura lobata) seems mesmerised by a drop of water falling from its mother’s mouth. Photographed in Perth, Australia. Photo by Jason Moore/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Under 11 category – Verditer flycatcher
A verditer flycatcher (Eumyias thalassinus)photographed in the garden of a hotel in Pelling, Sikkim, India. Photo by Arko Saha/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Conservation category – Don't make war
A Maltese hunter stands proud, having legally shot a European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur). European Union legislation bans the hunting of turtle doves in the breeding season. Nevertheless, across the Mediterranean, nearly one million are killed every year. Photo by Ewan Heath-Flynn/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Birds in flight category – Blue-footed fishing dive
A blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) takes a dive and catches a fish off the coast of Los Islotes, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Photo by Henley Spiers/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Birds in the environment category – Sunflower paradise
A brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) sits on the stalk of a sunflower in Lower Silesia, Poland. Flooding meant sunflowers here could not be harvested, and thousands of birds like this brambling flocked to it. Despite their colourful plumage, they blended with the surroundings, making them hard for predators to spot. Photo by Mateusz Piesiak/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Comedy category – No way out
The purple heron (Ardea purpurea) is a migratory bird that nests in the lake basins of the Italian Peninsula and feeds mainly on fish as well as mice, snakes and toads. In this image, the heron caught a large crucian carp (Carassius carassius) and voraciously swallowed it after several attempts to turn the fish onto its side. Photo by Antonio Aguti/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Age 15-17 years category – Blue hour and red Moon
A Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula) sits in a tree in the shadow of a full Moon in Mainz, Germany. Photo by Anton Trexler/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Portrait category – Glistening green
A glistening-green tanager (Chlorochrysa phoenicotis) rests in the middle of a leaf in the Mashpi Amagusa Reserve, Ecuador. Photo by Nicolas Reusens/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Urban birds – A moment of prayer
A great grey owl (Strix nebulosa) sits on a graveyard in Helsinki, Finland. During winter migration, owls from northern Finland often head south where they can find more food due to less snow. Photo by Arto Leppänen/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Conservation category – seeing eye to eye
Scientist Dr Luke Gregory looks into the eye of a southern boobook (Ninox boobook) at Bonorong Wildlife Hospital, Brighton, Tasmania, Australia. The southern boobook is Australia's smallest owl species. Photo by Michael Eastwell/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
12-14 years category – High-key terns
An Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) and a common tern (Sterna hirundo) sit closely together in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Photo by Harry Sedin/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
Overall winner – Grab the bull by the horns
The winner of this year's Bird Photographer of the Year Competition is an image of a female peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) attacking a brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) who had strayed too close to her nest. Photographed in California, USA. Photo by Jack Zhi/Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
James Cutmore is the picture editor of BBC Science Focus Magazine. He has worked on the magazine and website for over a decade, telling compelling science stories through the use of striking imagery. He holds a degree in Fine Art, and has been nominated for the British Society of Magazine Editors Talent Awards, being highly commended in 2020. His main areas of interest include photography that highlights positive technology and the natural world. For many years he was a judge for the Wellcome Trust's image competition, as well as judging for the Royal Photographic Society.
