Bird photos

Nazca booby in flight.
Species: Nazca booby, Sula granti
Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16681  

Snow geese at dawn. Snow geese often "blast off" just before or after dawn, leaving the ponds where they rest for the night to forage elsewhere during the day.
Species: Snow goose, Chen caerulescens
Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 21806  

Sandhilll cranes in golden sunset light, silhouette, standing in pond.
Species: Sandhill crane, Grus canadensis
Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 21798  

California brown pelican in flight, spreading wings wide to slow in anticipation of landing on seacliffs.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 36680  

Point La Jolla at dawn. Pelicans, cormorants, sea birds, waves and sea cliffs.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 37473  

Magellanic penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus, Patagonia.
Species: Magellanic penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38432  

Magellanic penguin, bloodied following a fight with another male to defend its burrow, Spheniscus magellanicus, Patagonia.
Species: Magellanic penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38433  

Lilac-Breasted Roller, Coracias caudatus, Masai Mara, Kenya.
Species: Lilac-Breasted Roller, Coracias caudatus
Location: Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
Image ID: 39640  

Royal tern in flight, Thalasseus maximus, adult nonbreeding plumage, blue ocean water in the background, La Jolla.
Species: Royal tern, Sterna maxima, Thalasseus maximus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39774  

Brown Pelican Performs a Head Throw Lit By Sun on Pedestal Rock, dark ocean from storm clouds on horizon. Winter adult non-mating coloration.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39820  

Brandt's Cormorant in Flight Non-Breeding Adult, flying over the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla.
Species: Brandt's cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39865  

Study of a California brown pelican in winter breeding plumage, yellow head, red and olive throat, pink skin around the eye, brown hind neck with some white neck side detail.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39870  

Brandt's Cormorant Flying in La Jolla, lit by early morning sun, non-breeding plumage.
Species: Brandt's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Image ID: 39882  

Perfect Brown Pelican Head Throw in Winter Breeding Plumage, pelican leans its head way back to stretch its throat pounch and neck.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus, Pelecanus occidentalis
Image ID: 39884  

This California Brown Pelican has its wings spread full wide as it flies over the ocean. The wingspan of the brown pelican can reach 7 feet wide.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40065  

Endangered Brown Pelican Flying with Wings Spread Ready to Land. The brown pelican's wingspan can reach 7 feet.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus, Pelecanus occidentalis
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40094  

Mated pair of Brandt's Cormorants tend to the nest they have built on sea cliffs. Note the colors they assume during mating season: striking blue gular pouch (throat) along with faint blue-green iridescence in their plumage.
Species: Brandt's cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40130  

Whimbrel Foraging Amidst Spring Wildflowers on Coast Walk, La Jolla.
Species: Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40256  

Great egret, White Egret, Ardea alba, Florida.
Species: Great egret, Ardea alba
Location: Harley Davidson Rookery, Brandon, Florida
Image ID: 40561  

A Perfect Brown Pelican Head Throw with Distant Ocean in Background, bending over backwards, stretching its neck and gular pouch. Note the winter breeding plumage, yellow head, red and olive throat, pink skin around the eye, brown hind neck with some white neck side detail, gray breast and body.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40794  

Clark's Grebes rushing side by side, a spectacular courtship behavior in which the aquatic birds literally run on the surface of the water while slapping their feet up to 20 times per second.
Species: Clark's Grebe, Aechmophorus clarkii
Location: Lake Wohlford, Escondido, California
Image ID: 40842  

Western Grebe Rushing, Running Across Water.
Species: Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis
Location: Lake Wohlford, Escondido, California
Image ID: 40844  

Two Western Grebes in a Spectacular Rush Across the Surface of Lake Wohlford. Rushing is a courtship behavior among grebes and requires the aquatic birds to step as rapidly as 20 beats per second to walk across water in this way. Simply amazing.
Species: Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis
Location: Lake Wohlford, Escondido, California
Image ID: 40867  

Two Western Grebes Walk on Water, Rushing, Backlit by the Rising Sun. Grebe rushing, a courtship behavior, happens when the birds slap the lake surface up to 20 times per second, literally running across the water.
Species: Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis
Location: Lake Wohlford, Escondido, California
Image ID: 40890  

American White Pelican in Flight, breeding adult with fibrous plate on upper mandible of bill, Lake Wohlford.
Species: White pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Location: Lake Wohlford, Escondido, California
Image ID: 40902  

American White Pelican, breeding adult with fibrous plate on upper mandible of bill, Lake Wohlford.
Species: White pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Location: Lake Wohlford, Escondido, California
Image ID: 40903  

Western Grebe Adult and Chick.
Species: Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis
Location: Lake Hodges, San Diego, California
Image ID: 40969  

Canada Geese in flight, Branta canadensis, Santee Lakes.
Species: Canada goose, Branta canadensis
Location: Santee Lakes, California
Image ID: 41481  

Royal tern in flight, Thalasseus maximus, wrapped in surf grass.
Species: Royal tern, Sterna maxima, Thalasseus maximus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 41513