The shortlist for the coveted Bird Photographer of the Year awards has been announced by Nature Photographers and the British Trust for Ornithology. Here: Giant cowbird taking ticks from a capybara, Pantanal, Brazil. (Photo by Petr Bambousek/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Water rail, Salamanca, Spain. (Photo by Mario Cea/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Kingfisher diving, Spain. (Photo by Mario Cea Sanchez/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Alexandrine parakeet standing on swallows nest. (Photo by Georgina Steytler/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Dalmatian pelicans, Lake Kerkini, Greece. (Photo by Johan Siggesson/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Toco toucan, Poconé, Brazil. (Photo by Petr Bambousek/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Whooper swans, Janakkala, Finland. (Photo by Antti Siponen/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Northern gannet, Bempton Cliffs, United Kingdom. (Photo by Janine Lee/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Red-billed oxpecker on an impala, Kruger National Park, South Africa. (Photo by Edmund Aylmer/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





White-tailed eagle, Hortobágy, Hungary. (Photo by Ben Hall/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Sanderling wading birds stop during migration, Asturias, Spain. (Photo by Mario Suarez Porras/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Griffon vulture, Alaska. (Photo by Pedro Jarque Krebs/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Ruddy duck, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jess Findlay/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Grey heron, Hungary. (Photo by Bence Mate/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Snowy owl, Canada. (Photo by Markus Varesvuo/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





White-backed vulture, Zimanga, South Africa. (Photo by Clint Ralph/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)





Northern gannet with discarded netting in its beak, Heligoland, Germany. (Photo by Petr Bambousek/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)