Earlier this year, we held a photo contest celebrating the Color of Birds. We received more than 725 entries — images of hummingbirds, macaws, warblers, flamingos, and other beautiful birds. Now, we’re happy to announce the finalists. Enjoy this slideshow featuring a baker’s dozen of stunning photos. We’ll announce the three winning photos from this collection on Wednesday, December 30.
"While at the Vallarta Botanical Gardens in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, I found this Berylline Hummingbird," writes Ric Chamblee. "It was so busy defending its territory and feeding flower to flower, it hardly noticed me. As I watched it, I noticed that it kept returning to the same spot on a limb when it would take a break. I slowly, quietly set up my tripod and camera and was able to get lots of photos of it. My lens is a 600mm zoom, so I was at a reasonable distance to avoid harassing it or making it feel unsafe. It was a beautiful thing to watch and photograph."
Equipment and settings: Nikon D5, 150-600mm G2 Tamron lens, Enduro tripod. 1/100 sec at f/7.1, ISO 200.
View the Color of Birds honorable mention images
Third place: White-necked Jacobin
First place: Orange-breasted Bunting
Many thanks to our panel of guest judges: bird photographer Mia McPherson, photo editor and photographer Ernie Mastroianni, and Outdoor Photographer Editor Wes Pitts.
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