Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week

Advances in digital photography have given us the opportunity to capture the beauty and freedom of birds in the wild like never before. In January 2011, the Wild Bird Trust set up a Facebook page with the intention of celebrating free flight and birds in the wild from around the world. Here are the “Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week” drawn from thousands of photographs submitted to the Wild Bird Trust. Each week we select from all the photographs submitted and from our archives. Almost 18,000 photographs from over 100 photographers from around the world have been emailed to us or posted on our Facebook wall so far… Celebrate the freedom and splendor of birds in the wild with us and stimulate positive change by sharing how beautiful the birds of the world really are with the world…

Please join the Wild Bird Trust page on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to receive all wild bird photo updates and join the Wild Bird Revolution. Submit your own photos and become part of this important public awareness campaign to bring the magic of wild birds to the world. Prepare to be blown away every week…

A moment in time captured forever! Malachite kingfisher diving into the water. Simply amazing! (Neal Cooper)

Common goldeneyes are found in the lakes and rivers of boreal forests across Canada and the northern United States, Scandinavia and northern Russia. (Lennart Hessel)

Southern ground hornbill is the largest hornbill on earth. They are threatened throughout their range outside of protected areas. See: http://www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za/pdf/Project_GroundHornbill.pdf (Anthony Roberts)

Prothonotary warblers breed in the hardwood swamps of extreme southeastern Ontario and the eastern United States. They are the only eastern warbler that nests in natural or artificial cavities. (Nina Stavlund)

A close-up of the wing feathers of a Scarlet Macaw show the beautiful array of colors these birds display. (Art Wolfe / Art Wolfe Stock)

The illusive and enigmatic Pel's fishing owl of sub-Saharan Africa. A rare sighting along Africa's waterways... (Kevin MacDonald)

An amazing flock of African skimmers zooming past the photographer in Loango National Park (Gabon) (Adam Riley / www.rockjumperbirding.com)

Lappet-faced vulture perched proudly in the Kruger National Park (South Africa). Like most vultures they are threatened throughout their range by livestock farming, poison and food shortages. (Anthony Roberts)

White-throated dippers are a unique aquatic passerine found in Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. When disturbed the young, when hardly feathered, will at once drop into the water and dive... (Geir Jensen)

Orange-breasted sunbird and a honeybee square off over a protea flower. A stunning scene from a sunny day in the Western Cape (South Africa). (Neal Cooper)

African fish eagle flying high above the clouds... The freedom of unassisted flight is an advancement equal to all the human achievements to date... (Anthony Roberts)

Imperial shag on Saunder's Island in the Falklands. They are native to many subantarctic islands, the Antarctic Peninsula and southern South America, primarily in rocky coastal regions, but locally also at large inland lakes. (Adam Riley / www.rockjumperbirding.com)

Southern masked weavers are very widespread in southern Africa and are found in a wide range of habitats. (Mark Drysdale)

The striolated puffbird is a little-known species in the Bucconidae family that is found in the southwestern Amazon Basin in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. Photographed here in Rio Cristalino (Brazil) (Adam Riley / www.rockjumperbirding.com)

Snowy sheathbill in St Andrews Bay on South Georgia Island (Antarctic). They are omnivores that specialize in kleptoparasitism, stealing krill and fish from penguins - sometimes even eating their eggs and down-covered chicks. Sheathbills also eat carrion, feces, invertebrates and, where available, human waste. (Adam Riley / www.rockjumperbirding.com)

Cape parrots are among the most radiant parrots on earth, seeming to shine in the sunlight. There are in the region of 1,000 remaining in the wild and the species requires urgent conservation investment. (Rodnick Biljon)

The Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross is considered to be an endangered species due to dramatic declines in the last seventy years. (John Paterson)

Lanner falcon swooping down at the water's edge. They breed in Africa, as well as southeast Europe and neighboring parts of Asia. (Neal Cooper)

The African pygmy-kingfisher is distributed widely in Africa south of the Sahara... (Mark Drysdale)

European robins are found across Europe, east to Western Siberia, and south to North Africa. They are sedentary in most of their range, except the far north where it becomes too cold. (Geir Jensen)

Marico sunbirds are found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. (Michele Nel)

Kori bustards are native to Africa and are considered to be the heaviest bird capable of flight. (Ronald Krieger)

Blue waxbill holding up a piece of grass covered in flowers in the wind. Just beautiful! (Anja Denker)

The Willow Ptarmigan's scientific name, Lagopus lagopus is derived from Ancient Greek lagos "hare" and pous "foot" in reference to the bird's feathered feet which allow it to negotiate frozen ground. Here photographed in Kuusamo (Finland). (Antero Topp)

The Chaffinch was so named for its tendency to peck the grain left out in farmyards... (Suranjan Mukherjee)