Images From The Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Competition

Over 49,000 entries across 86 countries were made to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020 competition. The winners will be announced during a virtual awards ceremony that will stream from the Natural History Museum in London on October 13, 2020. Then, an exhibition will open at the museum on October 16, 2020. The 2021 competition will run from October 19 through December 2020.

View a selection of Highly Commended images in the slideshow below.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. For more information, visit www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy.

Wind birds by Alessandra Meniconzi, Switzerland — Highly Commended 2020, Behaviour: Birds

Blasted by the wind, high on the Alpstein Massif of the Swiss Alps, Alessandra could barely stand, but the yellow-billed choughs were in their element. These gregarious mountain birds nest in rocky ravines and on cliff faces, staying with their partners throughout the year. They feed mostly on insects in summer, and berries, seeds and human food waste in winter – boldly scavenging in flocks around ski resorts. They are constantly on the move looking for food, and as a scavenging flock drew closer, Alessandra could hear them shrieking ‘so loud and insistent in the dramatic landscape – it was like being in a thriller movie’. Taking advantage of gusts of wind sweeping the birds towards her and slowing their path, she captured their’ impressive acrobatics – one in characteristic headlong plunge – against the moody sky and jagged, snow-capped mountains. Red feet and yellow bills accent the monochrome of her atmospheric picture.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + 24–70mm f2.8 lens at 24mm; 1/1328 sec at f16; ISO 640.