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Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #97

Steve Boyes

The Wild Bird Trust presents this week’s Top 25 Wild Bird Photos! We are very grateful to everyone who submitted their photographs, it really is a wonderful showcase of the diversity of wild birds across the globe. To be in the running for next week’s top 25 you can submit photographs on the Facebook page with species, location and photographer as the caption. Also follow us on twitter (@wildbirdrev) and instagram (@wildbirdtrust) for regular updates.

Female Indian Paradise Flycatcher are always rufous like this one but males are polymorphic and are either white or rufous. Photo by Ali Javed

 

Black-throated Bushtits travel in large groups of up to 40 birds.Photo by Pallabi Mitra

 

This female Bluethroat has a more modest appearance compared to the males who have a bright blue throat. Photo by Sandipan Ghosh

 

The Calliope hummingbird is the smallest hummingbird in the United States. Photo by Tim Nicol

 

The Chestnut-tailed Starling is found in open woodland and cultivated habitats. Photo by Sayan Biswas

 

The breeding success of Common Kestrels is highly dependent on prey availability. Photo by Ram Vaidyanathan

 

This European Goldfinch was photographed in Illinois, USA but is not native to America, it was introduced in the 19th century. Photo by Emil Baumbach

 

As its name hints at, the Great Barbet is the largest of the barbets. Photo by Darshan Kashi

 

The Grey-hooded Warbler is primarily found in the Himalayas. Photo by Rupal Vaidya

 

Himalayan Bulbuls raise up to three broods a year. Photo by Nitin A Chavan

 

The call of the Jerdon’s Leafbird is made up of imitations from other species. Photo by Aravind Venkatraman

 

The Kashmir Flycatcher is considered vulnerable on the IUCN red list due to destruction of its forest habitat. Photo by Pranesh Kodancha

 

The Little Ringed Plover is native to Europe and Asia. It migrates across the Sahara Desert to reach its overwintering habitat in Africa. Photo by Tahir Abbas Awan

 

Marsh Warblers are monogamous but choose a new mate each year. Photo by Jorg Asmus

 

Orange-bellied Leafbirds build their nests on the edges of tree branches. Photo by Rajesh Chaube

 

The Green Bee-eater feeds on flying insects, breaking the exoskeleton by smashing it against a perch. Photo by Soumik Biswas

 

Pied bushchats nest in cavities. Photo by Shantanu Mukherjee

 

The Raggiana Bird of Paradise is the national bird of Papua New Guinea. Photo by Rich Lindie.

 

Female Barred Buttonquails are polyandrous, meaning they have many mates. Photo by Bhargab Mukherjee

 

Spotted Owlets have been associated with bad omens. Photo by Tapas Kundu

 

A Steppe Eagle appears on the flag of Kazakhstan. Photo by Debanshu Mukherjee

 

The Sykes’s Nightjar was first identified in India in 1832. Photo by Zubin Ashara

 

The White-crested Laughing Thrush is a cooperative breeder, with older siblings helping to care and protect the young. Photo by Shivayogi Kanthi

 

The White-spotted Fantail was thought to be a sub-species of the White-throated Fantail. Photo by Sushil Khekare

 

Wire-tailed Swallows are strongly associated with water bodies. Photo by Jawad Ahmad

Edited by Christie Craig, Campaign Manager

Our mission is to build a global community around the freedom and beauty of birds in the wild as ambassadors for the natural ecosystems that they depend upon. They are the music, decoration and character of every terrestrial habitat on the planet and have been around since the dinosaurs. They are the witnesses and ambassadors of the awesome power of nature. The wide availability of good, cheap optics has opened their world to us for the last few decades. Amazing, affordable DSLR cameras with long lenses are delivery brilliant digital bird imagery to online communities.

We are in a day-and-age during which more bird species are threatened with extinction than ever before. The Wild Birds! Revolution aims to publish the “Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week” to 1 million people every week by the end of the year. That is a revolution that will change the world! Join thousands of other weekend naturalists, photographers, birders, experts, hikers, nature-lovers, guides, scientists, conservationists and artists that share the thousands of wild bird photographs submitted to the Wild Bird Trust website and Facebook page. Thousands of wild bird enthusiasts are going out everyday to photograph our planet’s beautiful birdlife. Pick up your camera, fill your bird feeder, open your heart, and join the Wild Birds! Revolution!!

http://voices.nationalgeographic.org/2017/07/14/top-25-wild-bird-photographs-of-the-week-96/

Changing Planet

Steve Boyes has dedicated his life to conserving Africa's wilderness areas and the species that depend upon them. After having worked as a camp manager and wilderness guide in the Okavango Delta and doing his PhD field work on the little-known Meyer's Parrot, Steve took up a position as a Centre of Excellence Postdoctoral Fellow at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology. He has since been appointed the Scientific Director of the Wild Bird Trust and is a 2014 TED Fellow. His work takes him all over Africa, but his day-to-day activities are committed to South Africa's endemic and Critically Endangered Cape Parrot (Poicephalus robustus). Based in Hogsback Village in the Eastern Cape (South Africa), Steve runs the Cape Parrot Project, which aims to stimulate positive change for the species through high-quality research and community-based conservation action. When not in Hogsback, Steve can be found in the Okavango Delta where he explores remote areas of this wetland wilderness on "mokoros" or dug-out canoes to study endangered bird species in areas that are otherwise inaccessible. Steve is a 2013 National Geographic Emerging Explorer for his work in the Okavango Delta and on the Cape Parrot Project.