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Bird Photographer of the Year for 2025

a huge school of small silvery fish swirl around a diving bird

a golden eagle feeding on the carcass of a deer

drone photo of a flock of geese flying over a stark brown and white abstract landscape

the blurred shape of a swan coming in to land against an abstract background of blurred swans

The organizers of the Bird Photographer of the Year competition received more than 33,000 images for 2025’s contest; here are the winners and runners-up. Photos above by Franco Banfi, Francesco Guffanti, Tibor Litauszki, and Andreas Hemb.

If you have no idea what you’re seeing in that third photo by Tibor Litauszki, you’re not alone โ€” even after reading the photographer’s description (courtesy of In Focus), I can’t figure it out:

It was January and nature had created some very interesting shapes in the saline lakes near Akasztรณ in Hungary. I sent up my drone and was looking for the right composition when a dozen geese suddenly flew into view. I immediately started taking photos and luckily everything fell into place โ€” the composition as well as the geese.

And eagles? Huge monsters. Dinosaurs never went extinct. (via in focus)

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Enrique Edited

All genuinely incredible photos. I'm surprised you, of all people, didn't include the eclipse shot in your write-up: https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/WH3hz52dDwZ0Ex48tzqAtrpXB0Q=/0x0:2000x1138/1856x1056/media/img/posts/2025/09/a12_BF_G_OW/original.jpg

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