I believe most of you will agree that birds are fascinating. I mean, they can fly! And not only that. Have you ever seen the Vogelkop superb bird-of-paradise's dance, observed a flock of flamingos gracefully standing on one leg, or witnessed an eagle hunt? If that is not enchanting, I don't know what is.

For all the winged creature lovers out there, we present to you the winners of The Bird Photographer of the Year, 2022! This global photographic competition is entirely dedicated to avian photography and is open to a wide range of photographers, "a hardened pro, a keen amateur with the latest kit, or simply a hobbyist with a cameraphone or small compact camera."

This year, the jury of leading experts had a hard task to select the most incredible photos celebrating bird life from around the world out of over 20,000 submissions. Scroll down to meet the winners!

If you're interested in seeing the best images of previous competitions, you can find them by clicking here, here, here, here and here.

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#1 Urban Birds: "Gonzo" By Laszlo Potozky (Silver)

Image credits: birdpoty.com

Established in 2016, Bird Photographer of the Year was founded to promote birds and conservation through images. They are partnered with the charity Birds on the Brink, to whom they provide vital funding. This funding supports grass-roots conservation projects for birds around the world. Birdpoty images, books, and exhibitions all have a conservation thread woven carefully through the images, showcasing important messages to the viewing public.

#2 Bird Behaviour: "Face-Off" By Kathy Wade (Highly Commended)

Image credits: birdpoty.com

#3 9-13 Years: "Shadows" By Andrés Luis Domínguez Blanco (Silver)

Image credits: birdpoty.com

Bored Panda got in touch with an assistant manager at Birdpoty and nature photographer, Audrey Granger, to get to know more about this year's competition. She revealed that they have seen a great range of creativity from photographers, with exciting variations in lens choices, styles, and subjects. "This makes for a broad and varied exhibition."

The 2022 competition's judges included Mark Carwardine, Sergey Gorshkov, Li Ying Lou, David Lindo, Melissa Groo, Erin Ranney, Andrew Cleave, Paul Sterry, Myles Archibald, Will Nicholls, Majed Al Za’abi, Denise Ippolito, Tin Man Lee, Alejandro Prieto, Rathika Ramasamy, Jamie McPherson, and Hans Ngoteya. The full list of judges for the 2023 competition can be found here.

#4 9-13 Years: "Droplets" By Parham Pourahmad (Gold)

Image credits: birdpoty.com

#5 14-17 Years: "Pied Avocet Chick" By Tamás Koncz-Bisztricz (Silver)

Image credits: birdpoty.com

According to Audrey, the judges looked for technical excellence, images that have interesting compositional elements, and images that remain true to what the photographer saw when taking their photos. They were also looking for unique images that tell a strong story, or show birds in a new and perhaps unseen way.

#6 Black And White: "Between Two Worlds" By Henley Spiers (Gold)

Image credits: birdpoty.com

#7 Black And White: "King Penguin Portrait" By Rafael Armada (Highly Commended)

Image credits: birdpoty.com

The overall Winner of the Bird Photographer of the Year 2022 is "Rock Ptarmigan Flight" taken by Erlend Haarberg. His image also won Gold Award in the Birds in the Environment category. Haarberg wins the top prize of £5,000 and the prestigious title.