BOXIA GAO, Little Foodies (ANIMAL & NATURE 2022)

Photographing small birds in the act of hunting is extremely challenging. The moments are brief and require you to follow the birds’ swift movements with great patience, always ready for the perfect shot. These are some lively images I captured of small birds in the act of foraging. The golden-headed cisticola is dangling a tiny ant from its beak; the eastern spinebill is carefully probing flowers; and the white-fronted chat has a beak brimming with prey, almost as if is showing off. There is a great satisfaction in being able to capture all the details in how these little creatures hunt for food and to witness their animated liveliness through a camera lens. The spotted pardalote was a particular joy, as it is only 8-10 centimetres long. It likes to flit back and forth between high gum tree branches, so it took a long time (and a great deal of luck!) to capture a photo with a clean background. This photo depicts it just as it is flying by with an insect in its beak. I was definitely thrilled to get this shot!

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.