The shortlist for the coveted Bird Photographer of the Year awards has been announced by Nature Photographers and the British Trust for Ornithology. Here we display a few of the entries in the running for the awards, which will be announced by Chris Packham in August at the annual Rutland Birdwatching Fair.

Photo by Petr Bambousek

Giant cowbird taking ticks from a capybara, Pantanal, Brazil

Photo by Mario Cea

Water rail, Salamanca, Spain

Photo by Mario Cea Sanchez

Kingfisher diving, Spain

Photo by Georgina Steytler

Alexandrine parakeet standing on swallows nest

Photo by Johan Siggesson

Dalmatian pelicans, Lake Kerkini, Greece

Photo by Petr Bambousek

Toco toucan, Poconé, Brazil

Photo by Antti Siponen

Whooper swans, Janakkala, Finland

Photo by Janine Lee

Northern gannet, Bempton Cliffs, United Kingdom

Photo by Edmund Aylmer

Red-billed oxpecker on an impala, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Photo by Ben Hall

White-tailed eagle, Hortobágy, Hungary

Photo by Mario Suarez Porras

Sanderling wading birds stop during migration, Asturias, Spain

Photo by Pedro Jarque Krebs

Griffon vulture, Alaska

Photo by Jess Findlay

Ruddy duck, British Columbia, Canada

Photo by Bence Mate

Grey heron, Hungary

Photo by Markus Varesvuo

Snowy owl, Canada

Photo by Clint Ralph

White-backed vulture, Zimanga, South Africa

Photo by Petr Bambousek

Northern gannet with discarded netting in its beak, Heligoland, Germany