Ferocious Falcon Grabs Pelican and Top Honors
A female peregrine falcon sank her talons into a much larger brown pelican mid-flight, and photographer Jack Zhi was on hand to capture the attack on film. The image, among the 23,000 entries submitted to the Bird Photography of the Year contest, is so good it was the Overall Winner and it took the gold in another category, Bird Behaviour.
Zhi, who snapped the winning pic in southern California, says he waited for four years to capture the dramatic shot. “During breeding season, a female peregrine falcon fiercely protects her young, attacking anything that comes near the nest,” he explained in a press release. “The action was fast, and over in the blink of an eye. But I’ll remember that moment forever.” His patience paid off to the tune of £5000 ($6100) in prize money.
Other winners include Rafael Armada’s long-beaked hummingbird in the Birds In Flight category, a goldfinch gorging on sunflower seeds by Mateusz Piesiak (Birds in the Environment), and a pair of canoodling ducks by Jason Moore in black and white. Check out more winners – and runners-up – on the contest website.
The eighth annual Bird Photography of the Year contest awards talented photographers and also raises awareness about the plight of birds. Habitat loss, disease, climate change, and other calamities have erased nearly 3 billion birds in North America alone since 1970. According to the latest State of the World’s Birds report, an estimated one in eight species—1,409 in total—is at risk of going extinct.
“The astonishing caliber 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,” contest director Will Nicholls said in a statement.
