2008: Behaviour: Birds - Runner-up
Brian Matthews (United Kingdom)
Getting stuck in
'Lying on the muddy bank, along the Cuiabá River in the Pantanal, Brazil, I was eye-to-eye with the scavengers. The early morning light was beautifully soft but the smell was truly terrible.' South American black vultures prefer carrion, but they're not fussy and will also eat fruit and eggs. When they are frightened, they vomit up the food they have just eaten to become lighter and to help them escape more easily. A black vulture would never attack a caiman, but on finding a dead one would happily tuck in. They go for eyes first, digging down through the sockets to the meat inside.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II + Canon EF500mm IS USM lens; 1/640 sec at f4 (-1 compensation); ISO 200.
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Adult awards Starling genie Barış Koca
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Adult awards Hoopoe delivery Ramon Navarro
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Adult awards Black grouse dawn show Bence Máté
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