Bence Máté's Image

Bence spent 48 hours in his hide looking out over the pelicans feeding on the mudflats. ‘They came so close,’ says Bence, ‘I could make out the tiniest details’. Here he framed the face of a female, its orange-tinted skin and the yellow folds of its pouch contrasting with its blue beak.

The spectacular bill of the great white pelican is a useful tool. Feeding in a group, up to 12 birds form a horseshoe, herding fish into shallow water then catching them in their flexible pouches. However, these majestic birds are at risk – the swamps and marshes they depend on are disappearing.