The 2026 edition of Bird Photographer of the Year, the world's largest bird photography competition, received more than 24,000 entries from many countries. The winning pictures capture rare behaviour, birds in their landscapes and the case for conservation. Prothom Alo published a photo story of 25 of the best, taken from the competition's website.
In Utah, United States, dawn light falls on the tail of a male greater sage-grouse in the breeding season so that its feathers seem to glow (Thomas DeLiberto). On Skomer Island, UK, Germany's Volker Wiedmann photographed Atlantic puffins at dawn and dusk after the day visitors had left. In the rainforest of West Papua, Indonesia, a male western parotia dances to attract a female (David Stowe).
A short-eared owl hunts at dusk over the salt marsh of the Fraser River delta in British Columbia, Canada (Ivan Sjögren). A flock of guillemots over Hornøya island, Norway, looks like a puzzle (Alex Pansier). An ostrich walks alone across the dry lake bed of Amboseli, Kenya, in black and white (Rahul Sachdev of India).
Some pictures raise conservation questions. Waterbirds including a yellow bittern laid out for sale in central Phnom Penh, Cambodia, were photographed during an investigation into bird hunting and trade that found wild birds being sold illegally across the country (Yann Bigant). The caption of an Egyptian vulture photographed in Malta says hunting of migratory birds is regulated by law but breaches are widespread, with dozens and sometimes hundreds of protected birds killed illegally each season (Luca Ereble).
Northern gannets plunge after prey off Shetland, trailing lines of bubbles underwater (Henley Spiers). A young bald eagle spreads its wings in the rain in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest (Mark Kerdane), and frigatebirds fight over fish tossed up by a fisherman at Tulum, Mexico (Bernhard Schubert).
Photos: Bird Photographer of the Year; photographers named in the captions. The picture used here is a file image.
Photo: Julielangford / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) (file image: an Atlantic puffin on Skomer)
Source: Prothom Alo
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