Paul Evans, Welcome Swallow Reflections (ANIMAL & NATURE 2026)

Welcome Swallows are a small, fast moving native Australian bird known for their aerial acrobatics. This series documents their feeding habit which involves flying over a body of water and diving into the water to scoop up an insect using the short bristles at the sides of their mouths. The four stages of this feeding behaviour are shown here: diving out of the group formation, impact with the water, the exaggerated head turn to capture the insect, and then flying off with the prey. The water reflects a different view of the birds.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.