Each year, the Nature’s Best Photography Awards unite the world’s greatest wildlife photographers in a celebration of visual imagination and natural marvel. The 2025 contest is no different, featuring thousands of photographs from all over the world and of all kinds of species. This year’s avian category presents breathtaking moments that not only capture the beauty of birds, but also the remarkable behaviors that make them unique.
Here’s seven of the best bird photographs from the 2025 Nature’s Best Photography Awards.
1. Grey Crowned Cranes (Amboseli National Park, Kenya) — Category Winner
In Steve Mattheis’s winning photograph, two cranes perform their synchronized courtship display, moving in near-perfect rhythm. The grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most recognizable birds, noted for its tall frame and golden feather crown. Mattheis described witnessing the dance as “elaborate, synchronized and almost regal.”
This performance is more than just a matter of optics. Grey crowned cranes mate for life; the synchronized jumping, bowing and calling serve as a testament to how willing they are to maintain that bond. Since the activity takes energy and focus, they serve as good indicators that both parties are in good health and willing to care for chicks. The pairs of cranes that have stronger synchronized displays are more likely to be more successful breeders.
Grey crowned cranes are presently categorized as Endangered on the IUCN’s Red List, primarily due to loss of wetlands and poaching, both of which break up stable breeding pairs. The photo accurately captures how this cooperation has evolved, as well as how susceptible these magnificent birds are to environmental changes and habitat loss.
2. Prairie Chicken Jump-Off (Craig, Colorado)
The greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) is known for its spring “lek” displays, where males gather on open ground to compete for attention. The moment captured here is of two males in a “jump-off:” a quick aerial clash used to establish dominance.
Photographer Peter Hudson notes, “This image illustrates their jump-off, where one bird launches into the air attempting to strike its opponent and triggers a reciprocal jump attack by its adversary, so they both appear in the air at the same time.” He adds that the same rival pairs return to challenge one another, day after day, throughout the breeding season.
While it looks like a fight, the real audience is the females watching nearby. They choose mates based on stamina, display precision and territory position, so only a small number of males end up with a mate each season.
These birds also depend on a large open grassland habitat. This means the survival of prairie-chickens is tied directly to the survival of the grasslands themselves. If the prairie remains open, intact and managed with practices like controlled burning to limit tree growth, these birds can thrive and continue their rituals. If not, the sounds and movement of the lek fade away.
A 2022 study published in Global Ecology and Conservation found that female greater prairie-chickens strongly avoid nesting near trees because trees attract predators.This means that even small increases in woody encroachment can sharply reduce usable habitat. As grasslands shrink, so do prairie-chicken populations.
3. Greater Flamingos (Mannar, Sri Lanka)
Photographer Lakshitha Karunarathna photographed these two greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) during a courtship display, where synchronized posture and pacing help establish and reinforce a pair bond. They stand with their necks curved toward each other, their movements mirrored in a way that resembles a practiced routine.
Greater flamingos breed in large colonies, and coordinated displays are essential. Flocks perform group marching, neck-stretching and preening sequences that align the birds’ breeding readiness. These groups help synchronize nesting across the colony, which is important in wetlands that change with shifting water levels and seasonal rainfall. When conditions are favorable, pairs build mud mound nests close together and raise chicks in dense groups known as crèches.
The stability of these colonies depends on the continuity of shallow wetlands. Fluctuations in water depth and food availability shape where and when flamingos can breed. The synchronized display seen here is part of that adaptation to different environments.
4. Squacco Herons (Chiusi Lake, Italy)
Antonio Aguti’s photograph shows two squacco herons (Ardeola ralloides) mid-air during a short clash over feeding territory. The birds hunt in shallow waters, where tiny fish and insects cluster in small spots. Because of this, many of these herons often come into close contact and confront each other over feeding spots. In the photo, the raised wings and extended legs show that competition plays out in fast, precise bursts.
Compared to larger herons, squacco herons use a more active hunting style: frequent short flights, rapid repositioning and quick lunges at prey. A 2024 field study in Current Zoology found that squacco herons show higher movement rates than great egrets and little egrets. This increased mobility is linked to better foraging success, especially when competitors are present.
5. Red-Breasted Parakeets (Bukit Merah, Singapore)
This is what normal red-breasted parakeet (Psittacula alexandri) parenting looks like. Photographer Tze Siong Tan has immortalized a fleeting but crucial instant in this family’s daily meal. Four chicks are packed into the doorway of a tree hollow, squawking and reaching out. Two adults wait outside — one bringing food, the other in line. The species exhibits biparental care, where both parents forage and return to feed chicks several times a day.
The exchange displayed here is most likely a food transfer, during which one adult feeds pre-chewed food to the chicks, while the other stands guard at the nesting entrance. Urban parakeets in Singapore have learned to utilize old woodpecker excavations and natural cavities in mature trees. The success of breeding greatly relies on the presence of large, cavity-carrying trees in urban parks and green corridors. Once these trees are cut, nesting sites disappear rapidly.
6. Bohemian Waxwings (Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming)
In Amy Gerber’s photograph, a single conifer becomes a temporary gathering point. Dozens of Bohemian waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus) perch together between feeding flights. Waxwings are irregular migrants, meaning that they do not follow fixed routes. Instead, they move unpredictably across northern forests in search of fruit.
Their digestive system is adapted to this diet. Their wide intestines allow them to process large volumes of sugary berries quickly. This, in turn, provides them with the immediate energy necessary for them to survive in cold weather. Waxwing flocks also share information about food and reduce predation risk by roosting and feeding together.
7. Drongos In Flames (Maharashtra, India)
Photographer Baiju Patil captures three Black drongos (Dicrurus macrocercus) moving in and out of rising the flames of a wildfire, while hunting insects flushed from the ground. Drongos are known to chase veld fires, as the heat drives grasshoppers and beetles upward into the open air.
Black drongos are known fire followers in India, and their agility in flight allows them to catch prey directly above active fire lines. Drongos rely heavily on aerial hawking, and they often use high perches to watch for movement before diving to feed. In agricultural landscapes, this behavior can reduce pest insect populations after burning or harvest.
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