Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ant (Atta sp) female worker carrying leaf to nest, with a smaller 'minor' ant riding. The minor's job is to protect her sister from parasitic flies. Costa Rica, December. Highly Commended,...
01154678
Tony Heald / Hippopotamus {Hippopotamus amphibius} territorial defense at water edge, Chobe national park, Botswana.
01689572
Lewis Jefferies / Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) changing colour as a threat display, Maldives, Indian Ocean.
01686331
Simon Littlejohn / Common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) perched outside its nest, opening its wings and beak in an aggressive display to a Common blackbird (Turdus merula) which eventually flies away, River Stour, Dorset,...
01679936
Doug Gimesy / Sub-Antarctic / Brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) flying away with egg stolen from a Royal penguin colony (Eudyptes schlegeli), Macquarie Island, Australian Territory. December.
01670401
Staffan Widstrand / Wild Wonders of China / Oriental / Crested honey buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) feeding on honeycomb surrounded by bees, Chayi, Taiwan Controlled conditions
01670400
Staffan Widstrand / Wild Wonders of China / Oriental / Crested honey buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) feeding on honeycomb surrounded by bees, Chayi, Taiwan. Controlled conditions
01665642
Oscar Dewhurst / Western marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) being mobbed by black-headed gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) as it takes off with chick. Suffolk, England, UK. June
01663699
Ripan Biswas / Portrait of an ant-mimicking crab spider. (Amyciaea sp) raising its legs to warn the photographer. Buxa tiger reserve, India.
01662139
Stefan Christmann / Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes fosteri) male peering out, looking over the huddle during polar night, Antarctic winter, Atka Bay, Antarctica. July. Bookplate.
01657613
Alex Mustard / Saddleback anemonefish (Amphiprion polymnus) barks a warning as it guards a clutch of developing eggs (beneath it) laid on a small stone, below a fold in its home, a Haddon's sea anemone (Stichoda...
01654377
Simon Littlejohn / Juvenile Lammergeier vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) in flight, mobbed by a raven, Grand Bargy cirque, Haute Savoie, France, October.
01654332
Simon Littlejohn / Mute swans (Cygnus olor) hissing and lunging at a European otter (Lutra lutra), River Stour, Dorset, England, UK, June.
01649919
Sven Zacek / Ural Owl (strix uralensis) female with talons ready to attack a ringing ornithologist, Tartumaa county, Southern Estonia. May.
01643847
Franco Banfi / Octopus, (Octopus vulgaris), splashing a cloud of ink and swim away with Bearded fireworm, (Hermodice carunculata) who want to eat a small octopus, top of the wall of Bisevo, Vis Island, Croatia, Adri...
01639937
Dave Bevan / Slow motion clip of a Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) returning to nest hole, attacked by a Nuthatch (Sitta europaea), Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK, April.
01638992
Tony Heald / African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) herd showing defensive behaviour as an African lioness (Panthera leo) walks by, Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe. September....
01638988
Tony Heald / Lion (Panthera leo) moving away from a defensive African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.
01631830
Matthew Maran / Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) cub defending its kill,a large Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) from another cub, North London, UK. August. Highly commended in the Behaviour : Mammals Category of the Wildlife Ph...
01631790
Morley Read / Slow motion clip of a Linnaeus' sipo snake (Chironius exoletus) with open mouth, part of threat display, Amazon rainforest, Orellana Province, Ecuador.
John Shaw / Common eider duck (Somateria mollissima) female defending her nest from arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus). Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen. June.
01621677
Espen Bergersen / Aerial shot of a female Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and calf surrounded by Killer whales (Orcinus orca), mother hits sideways with her tail fluke to drive Killer whales away, Skjervoy, Tro...
01620835
Konrad Wothe / Larvae of Birch sawfly (Craesus septentrionalis) in alarm position, Upper Bavaria, Germany. October.
01620442
John Chan / Western gulls (Larus occidentalis) attacking an Elegant tern (Thalasseus elegans) with a broken wing, Southern California, USA, April.
01620046
Tony Wu / Sardines (Clupeidae) fleeing from predators in the early morning. They were being herded and chased by Trevallies and Blacktip reef sharks in the water, and picked off by brown boobies and terns from...
01618340
Georgette Douwma / Boxer Crab (Lybia tessellata) with sea anemones in its claws for defense. Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
01617872
Guy Edwardes / Mozambique spitting cobra (Naja mossambica) spitting venom. Kruger, South Africa. Controlled conditions.
01617359
Robert Valentic / Eastern tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) female, Yarra River corridor in suburban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in mid-summer. She is in a defensive pre-strike position with hood expanded, accompanie...
01607921
Konrad Wothe / Slow motion clip of Wood ants (Formica rufa) on anthill, squirting formic acid to repel threat, Bavaria, Germany, April.
01593871
Five Films / Female Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) defending pup on beach, chasing male away, Horsey, Norfolk, November.
01592665
Lucas Bustamante / Tropical shield mantis (Choeradodis rhombicollis) in defensive position, on flower, Chinambi, Carchi, Ecuador.
01590441
Remi Masson / Group of Black bullhead (Ameiurus melas) shoaling to protect themselves against predators, River Rhone, Rhone-Alpes, France, July.
01590409
Robert Thompson / Sawfly larvae (Nematus pavidus) defensive posture, Peatlands Park, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. September.
01579697
Jordi Chias / European barracuda (Sphyraena sphyraena) and Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) circling baitball of Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) Formigas Islets, Azores. Finalist in the Underwater Categ...
01550468
Alex Mustard / Brandt's cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) hunts for a meal in a school of Pacific chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus), beneath an oil rig. Eureka Rig, Los Angeles, California, United States of Ame...
01543595
Alex Hyde / Silk moth (Automeris zugana) sequence 2 of 2, with wings open to reveal eyespots, a means of deterring predators, photographed on a white background in mobile field studio, Cordillera de Talamanca mou...
01542870
Ingo Arndt / Prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis viridis), threat display, South Dakota, USA September. Sequence 1 of 3
01533023
Mark Taylor / Black-and-white kitten, Loona, age 11 weeks, arching back.
01531858
Bence Mate / Herring gull (Larus argentatus) mobbing White tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) with fish prey, Lake Csaj, Kiskunsagi National Park, Hungary. March.
01531808
Bence Mate / Gull mobbing White tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) with fish prey, Lake Csaj, Kiskunsagi National Park, Hungary. March.
01531795
Bence Mate / Juvenile White tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)in flight, with Hooded crow (Corvus cornix) mobbing it, Lake Csaj, Kiskunsagi National Park, Pusztaszer, Hungary. January.
01531772
Bence Mate / Hooded crow (Corvus cornix) mobbing Buzzard (Buteo buteo) Lake Csaj, Kiskunsagi National Park, Pusztaszer, Hungary. January.
01531074
Luis Quinta / Grass snake (Natrix natrix) juvenile playing dead, Alvao, Portugal, April.
01526385
Edwin Giesbers / Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) baring teeth as a sign of submission, Gibraltar Nature Reserve, Gibraltar,
01520062
Alex Mustard / Backlit detail of branching fire coral (Millepora alcicornis) showing the hair like polyps, filled with stinging nematocysts. East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Caribbean Sea.
