11 finalists of the prestigious competition “Bird Photographer of the Year 2022” (12 photos)

One of the world's most prestigious bird photography competitions, Bird Photographer of the Year, recently released its finalists. The competition received more than 20,000 entries from participants.





More than 20,000 photographers from 115 countries sent their best photographs to the annual competition, which shows the beauty and diversity of the feathered world. The winner will be announced in September, but for now the jury has hinted at 11 candidates who could take the leading position.

Rabbit owl undergoing medical examination

In the Canadian province of Manitoba, short-tailed owls are critically endangered, although they were widespread in the past. The new program to preserve the species consists of creating new breeding grounds for owls, connecting pairs for the purpose of breeding, and monitoring the health of individuals, especially young ones, who can continue the family line. Canadian photographer Walter Potrebka witnessed a veterinarian examining an owl.



Mountain buzzard and corsac fox

Chinese photographer Baozhu Wang was traveling through Mongolia when he witnessed an unusual scene: a fight between a bird of prey and a steppe fox. Wang said that both the buzzard bird and the corsac fox hunt the same game - small birds and rodents, and therefore often compete with each other. The photographer also said what happened after the shutter clicked: the buzzard decided not to fight the fox and flew away.

Dancing Penguin Gentoo

British photographer Audrey Wooller said that she went to the Falkland Islands specifically to take a beautiful shot of a penguin at sunset. For a suitable shot, the woman lay on the ground for about an hour, guarding the desired penguin, and this one seemed successful to Ghent: he seemed to be dancing on the move.



Ocellated turkey

This “portrait photography” is still the leader in the category of the same name. It was made by the Austrian Leander Hill, who said that this type of turkey comes from Central America and is found only in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, Guatemala and Northern Belize. It was in the latter that the author took his picture. By the way, orange and red warts on the blue head and neck adorn only males and are sexually dimorphic. Females lack this zest.



Blue Heron and Vole

American Glenn Nelson lives in Seattle, where blue herons are considered symbols of the city. For this reason, the photographer decided to send this particular feathered representative to the competition. For a whole year, the master conducted a photo hunt for herons, choosing a place near the water, but one day he decided to stop in a field and witnessed an unusual lunch: a heron caught a vole. This is very strange, because in 95% of cases, herons eat fish and frogs.



Emperor penguins

This dynamic photograph taken in Gold Harbor on South Georgia Island is by African artist Ben Kranke. As Ben writes, he watched the king penguins for a long time and noticed that they walked to the water along well-trodden paths, lining up in single file. To take this shot, the author placed the camera next to the penguin path and camouflaged it with snow, and when the birds approached, he used a trigger (remote button) to take the photo.



Eurasian spoonbills

Hungarian Gabor Baross spent the day watching white spoonbills near a lake in Hortobagyi National Park, Eastern Hungary. Spoonbills usually avoid conflicts, but at some point a bird with strong territorial instincts arrived. Most likely, it was a male, and he began to drive away other birds until he came across the same “owner” and a fight began for a place in the sun.



Kalypta Anna

In this photo there is not one bird, but three: a mother and two chicks that she flew in to feed. Canadian photographer Liron Hertzman says that near Vancouver he found a place where an unusual species of hummingbird, Calyptus Anna, nests. Hummingbirds are very timid birds, and in order not to frighten them while building nests and laying eggs, Liron came to that place every day, but for no more than a couple of minutes. But this time was enough to take an amazing shot.



Crested caracaras

These birds of prey fly to the family's Laguna Seca photo ranch in Texas, where they feed the birds and allow photographers to photograph them. American Marty Phillips sat there for hours, watching a pair of caracaras during the mating season. As the author of the footage writes, the birds mostly sat still and turned their heads 360°. Marty managed to take such an interesting photo.



Broadbeak

Malaysian photographer Weng Keong Liew was behind the lens for this colorful image of a black-and-yellow broadbill in Selangor, a state on Malaysia's west coast. Usually these birds are quiet and calm, but during the mating season they make a lot of noise, trying in every possible way to attract a female.



Spotted rudd

Norwegian photographer Erlend Haarberg spent a long time outside the city, wanting to take a beautiful shot of waders, but witnessed a fight between two male rudd, vying for a beautiful lady.