25 Stunning Bird Photos From The 2026 BirdLife Australia Photography Awards

I had been watching a group of Ruddy Turnstones feeding on in the wash area of the rock platform. Occasionally a large swell would wash over the area they were feeding at and cause them to take flight. This bird had taken flight and was now gliding back looking for a safer place to feed.

(Canon 1D X Mk III, 1/2500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 640 with Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4x Mk III teleconverter)

Ruddy Turnstone, Sydney, NSW

During a glorious walk around the beach, I was taking some photos of the sun setting. There is a family of Silver Gulls that typically come in for the night at that time, but still squabble and steal food for hours. One of the adult Gulls perched on a fence post, only for it to be taken and hogged by another. After a few minutes of arguing, the Gull that stole the spot remained on it, seeming victorious. Little did it know that another one was lining itself up to divebomb them.

(Canon 200D Mk II, 1/4000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 with Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS at 163mm)

Silver Gull, Williamstown, Vic

I was sitting on the lounge in my friend's high rise apartment and the bird landed on the balcony railing. I don't think he would have been so close to me if the blind hadn't been pulled down.

(iPhone 14, 1/121 sec, f/1.5, ISO 40 with 5.7mm)

Australian Raven, Newcastle, NSW

The Fairy Tern is a seasonal visitor to a beach close to my home. I spent many hours over the last two summers observing this species from a distance, always laying low and making sure I am outside the nesting zone fences that are put up to protect them. The more time I spend with them, the more they continue to fascinate me. I wanted to document as many behaviours as I could, at different stages of the seasons starting from the beginning of the breeding, through nesting season and right up to their migration. I enjoy capturing little snippets of the lives of these birds, as most people don't get a chance to see it for themselves or don't pay attention to the details. I watched people reading the signs that were put up around the nesting zones but also saw some completely miss the signs or disregard them and ultimately disturb the birds outside the fencing by walking too closely or straight through the active nests. It's why I take pride in taking images like these, as they become a way for me to start conversations with people, in an effort to spread awareness of our vulnerable and endangered wildlife.

I have often seen Cormorants and Pelicans "fishing together". I'd always thought there was something cooperative about it. Recently I saw that it was a bit darker than that. The pelicans were shadowing the cormorants, ready to pounce the moment a cormorant came up with a fish, grabbing the cormorant by the throat in an attempt to stop it swallowing the fish and having to instead cough it up into the waiting mouth of the pelican. The behavior reminded me of how people in China and Japan have used cormorants for fishing in a similar way for over a thousand years. No doubt the pelicans thought of it first. I liked this particular shot because it shows the precise moment the pelican latches on to the Cormorant's throat with mouth inflated, too late in this instance, as the cormorant had already got the fish far enough down to get away with it. From a technical aspect, I used a small aperture to keep an much of both birds in focus.

(Nikon Z8, 1/2000 sec, f/11, ISO 800 with Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR at 600mm)

Australian Pelican and Great Cormorant, Cullendulla Nature Reserve, Batemans Bay, NSW

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