Digital Photographer - UK (2019-08)

Bristle-thighed curlew – Going, going, gone?

Credit photographer: Tony Davison/BPOTY 2019 shortlist.

Bristle-thighed curlew, Numenius tahitiensis, Nome, Alaska, USA. Curlew

species are under threat and in decline, and two species – Eskimo

curlew, N. borealis, and the slender-billed curlew, N. tenuirostris – have

almost certainly become extinct in our lifetimes; the former because of

industrial-scale hunting in North America, the latter due to habitat loss

in Eurasia. Although still extant, the bristle-thighed curlew, N. tahitiensis,

is one of the most vulnerable of the group, with a world population of

around 7,000. It breeds in Alaska and flies non-stop to wintering grounds

on islands in the Pacific. There it is vulnerable to hunting and predation,

its plight made worse because moult adults are flightless during autumn.

Emperor – A reign
at an end?
Photographer: Philip Marazzi/
BPOTY 2019 shortlist.
Emperor penguin, Aptenodytes
forsteri, Weddell Sea, Antarctica.
This endearing image speaks
of the reliance of the chick on
its parent, at a time when the
entire species faces the risk of
potential extinction. Entirely
dependent on frozen sea ice
for nesting, and shunning land
altogether, this iconic bird is
supremely vulnerable to the
impact of global warming.

Ruff in the red

Credit photographer: Jari Peltomäki/BPOTY 2019 shortlist.

Ruff, Philomachus pugnax, Liminka, Finland. According to

BirdLife International the ruff may be locally common but

its population is decreasing globally, and it is a Red List

category species. Climate change and habitat degradation

may contribute to the decline, but hunting in its African

wintering grounds may be a factor too.

BirdLife International, the organisation

monitoring the fate of the world’s bird species,

is the source of much of the information

underpinning these tales.

Over the course of BPOTY’s history it has

given over £7,000 to the British Trust for

Ornithology. The images we have received

over the course of the 2019 competition have

reminded us that environmental problems

are global. As a result, through the generosity

of Wildlife Worldwide, a specially created

competition category has enabled a donation

of £1,500 to be made to the British Bird Fair’s

conservation fund this year. But we have not

stopped there. Each year BPOTY will support a

number of conservation projects. We will help

to raise money and do our best to promote

these causes through media and social media

outlets, using powerful images to convey

inspirational ideas and highlight problems.

The winners of 2019 BPOTY will be

announced on 17/08/2019 at the UK Bird Fair

and on the competition website. The images

will also be featured in Digital Photographer.

For more information visit birdpoty.co.uk.

“Puffins appear plentiful,

but the species is in decline”

Bird PhotograPher of the Year