Macaulay Library’s Best Bird Photos 2026

Birders world wide have contributed greater than 81 million images to our Macaulay Library archive. Listed here are among the finest from the previous 12 months.

From the Winter 2026 problem of Residing Chicken journal. Subscribe now. When you like this picture essay, you’ll additionally take pleasure in last year’s Best of Macaulay essay.

Chicken, Watching

Greater than 30,000 photographers have contributed pictures to the Macaulay Library via their eBird checklists. Generally a photographer finds a chook staring proper again on the digital camera, similar to when photographer Toby Carter caught the extraordinary glare of a younger Osprey about to be launched throughout a licensed banding session on the coast of northern England. Osprey and different predatory birds (similar to jaegers, Shoebills, owls, herons, and eagles) have forward-facing eyes, an adaptation for zeroing in on prey.

On the different finish of the spectrum, the American Woodcock’s eyes are set to date again on its head you could see each eyes from behind, as within the picture by Karim Bouzidi beneath. It’s as if the chook is staring straight at you whereas going through the opposite route. This adaptation provides the ground-dwelling woodcock the flexibility to identify predators coming from almost any route.

an odd looking highly camouflaged bird with large eyes on the sides of its head — *Brown Boobook in India by* *Rejaul Karim / Macaulay Library.*

Blue and white bird flying straight toward the camera with wings outstretched — *Brown Boobook in India by* *Rejaul Karim / Macaulay Library.*

Brown and white bird with vivid yellow eyes shown in a close-up view. — *Osprey in the UK by Toby Carter / Macaulay Library.*

Gray and brown bird with bright orange eyes staring into the camera. — *Osprey in the UK by Toby Carter / Macaulay Library.*

Black-and-white bird perched on a branch with bright yellow eyes and orange around the beak. — *Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle in Peru by Andrés Paniagua / Macaulay Library.*

Large gray bird with a massive bill looking at the camera with its head tilted. — *Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle in Peru by Andrés Paniagua / Macaulay Library.*

an elephant walking through a field of yellow flowers with small white birds perched on its head — *African savanna elephant and Yellow-billed Egrets in Tanzania by Su Li / Macaulay Library.*

Extra Than Birds

In 2025 the Macaulay Library and eBird started accepting non-avian images and sounds, which opened the door to a wider array of wildlife—from seals to salamanders to cape buffalo. As a result of Macaulay Library media prepare the AI capabilities of Merlin, the Cornell Lab’s smartphone chook ID app, the addition of non-avian pictures and sound recordings will enhance the app’s capacity to tell apart birds and chook sounds inside their environments. A richer assortment of wildlife media additionally makes the archive much more priceless for scientific analysis.

A small brown bird perched on the back of a buffalo. — *Yellow-billed Oxpecker in Kenya by Nathan Mixon / Macaulay Library.*

A black-and-orange butterfly flying above a black-and-orange bird on a pine branch. — *Yellow-billed Oxpecker in Kenya by Nathan Mixon / Macaulay Library.*

A black bird standing on a sheep’s head. — *Eurasian Jackdaw in Türkiye by Soner Sabirli / Macaulay Library.*

A seal looking up with its tongue sticking out. — *Eurasian Jackdaw in Türkiye by Soner Sabirli / Macaulay Library.*

a person standing on a small boat feeding a large white bird — *White Stork in Türkiye by Alper Tüydeş / Macaulay Library.*

Dreamy Visages

Out of the tens of hundreds of thousands of images within the Macaulay Library archive, there are a number of with dreamlike compositions—a chook photographed in low gentle, or in movement over darkish waters. The ensuing surreal pictures are testomony to the photographer’s technical expertise and inventive imaginative and prescient. For instance, photographer Samuel Galick occurred upon a Chuck-will’s-widow perched on the finish of his driveway in southern New Jersey after sunset. By utilizing the onset of night to his benefit, he was capable of seize the ethereal type of the nightjar silhouetted towards a rising moon.

Yellow-bellied bird perched on a log with colorful blurred lights in the background. — *Cattle Tyrant in Texas by Hannah Criswell /Macaulay Library.*

Bird shown in dark silhouette in front of a full moon. — *Cattle Tyrant in Texas by Hannah Criswell /Macaulay Library.*

Blue and black bird perched against a dark background. — *Steller’s Jay in Colorado by Brian Genge / Macaulay Library.*

Two birds floating on misty orange water at sunrise. — *Steller’s Jay in Colorado by Brian Genge / Macaulay Library.*

Brown bird perched on a cactus branch in low light. — *Lesser Horned Owl in Chile by Francisco Castro Escobar / Macaulay Library.*

Dark bird standing on a gravestone in a foggy cemetery. — *Lesser Horned Owl in Chile by Francisco Castro Escobar / Macaulay Library.*

a group of cranes at a riverbed — *Crimson-crowned Crane in Japan by u7 Liao / Macaulay Library.*

Birds and Locations

One other growth of the Macaulay Library and eBird in 2025 allowed photographers to submit pictures of locations, whether or not or not birds are included. The place-based pictures present significant data to scientists about habitat circumstances, they usually present a approach for birders to protect memorable landscapes of their eBird checklists. Generally an iconic chook and panorama align within the digital camera’s viewfinder, similar to Rain Saulnier’s portrait of Atlantic Puffins amidst Newfoundland’s rocky shoreline.

An elephant standing beside a large tree in a grassy landscape with mountains in the background. — *Elephant and baobab in Tanzania by Andres Vasquez Noboa / Macaulay Library.*

Three puffins standing on grassy coastal rocks beside the ocean. — *Elephant and baobab in Tanzania by Andres Vasquez Noboa / Macaulay Library.*

Mountain trail lined with green shrubs under a cloudy sky. — *Tatra Nationwide Park in Poland by Alexander Hagge / Macaulay Library.*

A duck swimming on calm water with city lights blurred in the background. — *Tatra Nationwide Park in Poland by Alexander Hagge / Macaulay Library.*

Rocky terrain covered with low shrubs and moss. — *Mountain habitat in Arunachal Pradesh, India*, *by Sunil Kini / Macaulay Library.*

Iceberg floating on the ocean at sunset with an orange sky. — *Mountain habitat in Arunachal Pradesh, India*, *by Sunil Kini / Macaulay Library.*

a small bird perched on a tree and looking out against a snow background — *White-breasted Nuthatch in Colorado by Hannah Criswell / Macaulay Library.*

Snowbirds

Some hardy contributors to the Macaulay Library have braved snow and ice to supply images that doc how birds survive and thrive in chilly, harsh circumstances—such because the aptly named snowfinch foraging excessive within the Bernese Alps, or a pair of ravens at relaxation atop a snowbank within the Canadian Rockies. The Frequent Raven’s giant, sturdy invoice is effectively fitted to breaking via frozen meals gadgets for sustenance in deep winter.

Two black birds perched on a snowy ledge. — *Frequent Raven in Alberta by Cameron Hunter / Macaulay Library.*

Three penguins standing on snowy ice near the water. — *Frequent Raven in Alberta by Cameron Hunter / Macaulay Library.*

Brown and gray bird perched on a branch during snowfall. — *Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch in New Mexico by Tommy Childers / Macaulay Library.*

Brown streaked bird in mid-flight above snow-covered plants. — *Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch in New Mexico by Tommy Childers / Macaulay Library.*

Thank You

As 2025 involves an in depth, the Macaulay Library needs to increase honest because of everybody who contributed images, sounds, and movies to the Macaulay Library this 12 months. Collectively, you’ve helped construct the world’s premiere archive of wildlife media, every picture and recording capturing a reminiscence of a chook and an expertise in nature. Your contributions assist scientists research migration and conduct, assist educators encourage curiosity, and allow birders in all places to expertise the great thing about species they could by no means see in particular person. Most significantly, they inform a world story of birders’ care, curiosity, and hope for the pure world.

Thanks for serving to the Macaulay Library develop, one eBird guidelines, one sound, one picture at a time. We will’t wait to see what moments you’ll share in 2026 as we proceed to have fun the birds that join us all.