Bird Photographer of the Year is one of the world’s best photography competitions that celebrates outstanding talent while also supporting wildlife conservation efforts.
Over the last 5 years the competition has supported organisations such as the BTO, the Birdfair annual conservation project, the World Land Trust, and the Bermuda petrel nest site programme. In recognition of more action that is needed, the Bird Photographer of the Year team have established Birds on the Brink, a charity that awards grants to support bird conservation around the world.
Profits from the competition are used to support under funded projects and are primarily given to small groups or individuals carrying out grassroots conservation work.
For this year’s competition, 15,000 wildlife photographers from around the world submitted entries across different categories such as Birds In Flight, Bird Behaviour, and Attention to Detail.
The overall winning shot for 2020 is an impressionistic style portrait of a pair of European shags taken by Majed Alza’abi from Kuwait. The image was photographed at Vardø in Norway, one of the world’s best Arctic bird watching destinations. The area is home to hundreds of thousands of seabirds including colonies of gulls, puffins, guillemots, cormorants, and razorbills.
To see more of the winning and highly commended shots, head over to the Bird Photographer of the Year website. And if you prefer to do your browsing offline, all of the winning images will be published in the latest Bird Photographer of the Year book which this year will feature over 200 photographs from the competition.
Take a look at some of our favourite entries.
‘Autumn Golden Eagle’ Golden Eagle, Finland, Jari Peltomäki – Birds In Flight Commended
‘Barn Swallow Drinking Water On The Wing’ Barn Swallow, Israel, Gadi Smila – Birds In Flight Commended
‘Seranade’ Eurasian Blackbird, France, Fabien Dubessy – Best Portrait Commended
‘The Mating’ Western Capercaillie, Norway, Brent Osthus – Bird Behaviour Commended
‘Well-Behaved Male’ Bearded Tit, UK, Barry Carter – Bird Behaviour Commended
‘Seeing Double’ Mute Swan, UK, Adam Lake – 14-17 Years Award Winner And Overall Young Bird Photographer Of The Year 2020 Winner
‘The Wave’ Mandarin Duck, Sweden, Anders Blomdahl – Best Portrait Commended
‘Pacific Gull Blur’ Pacific Gull, Australia, Georgina Steytler – Best Portfolio Winner
‘Rainbow of the Forest’ Ocellated Turkey, Guatemala, Mathias Putze – Silver Attention to Detail
‘Feeding In Winter Time’ Song Thrush, France, Victor Ortega – Best Portrait Commended
‘It’s Complicated’ Common Terns, USA, Matthew Filosa – Bird Behaviour Commended
