A beautiful snowy owl looks like she is flying above a cloud, but in fact she is gliding inches above a snowplain in a hunt for food. The owls fit in perfectly with their surroundings as both the male and female, which has darker markings on her feathers referred to as barres, hunt for voles. The female is so low to the ground she is almost touching it as she spots her prey in the snow. Nature photographer Rick Dobson captured the two birds hunting in corn fields near his home, just outside of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Rick Dobson/Solent News/SIPA Press)

The Malabar Giant squirrel – double the size of their grey relatives and measuring up to 36 inches (91.5 cm) from head to tail – lives deep in the forests of India. The athletic animals can leap an incredible 20 feet (6 m) between trees. Photographer Kaushik Vijayan, 39, snapped the animals in their native habit to produce these stunning images. Kaushik, from Kerala State, India, said: “Up until that point I had never heard about a squirrel like that or seen one. The sight was an absolute feast for my eyes. The squirrels fascinated me and I got excited to capture this beauty on my camera”. (Photo by Kaushik Vijayan/South West News Service)

The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

An undated handout photo obtained on May 14, 2022, from Khartoum's Marshall Nature Reserve for exotic birds, shows a visitor posing for pictures with some of the protected birds in the capital Khartoum. Tucked away east of Sudan's capital Khartoum, a sanctuary of lush green vegetation has been a haven for dozens of exotic birds from far and wide. (Photo by Khartoum Marshall Nature Reserve/AFP Photo)

An American robin feeds on holly berries in a thicket near Elkton in southwestern Oregon on November 16, 2024. Many birds can safely consume holly berries, including blackbirds, redwings, and thrushes. There is an old wives tale that if you see a bird eating a berry, it is safe for humans to eat, but this is not true. Birds consume many plants that are poisonous to humans, holly berries included. (Photo by Robin Loznak/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Birds made of recycled tires are displayed in a shop located on the Panamerican highway near Catarina town, May 7, 2015. Salazar recycles used tyres to make bird figurines and sofas to sell in his shop located on the Panamerican highway. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)

A murmuration of starlings above the the small village of Rigg, near Gretna, in the Scottish Borders, on November 25, 2013. The weight of the resting birds on power lines caused some power localised power outages in the village. Still one of the commonest of garden birds, its decline elsewhere puts it on the Red List of endangered species. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

In this undated photo made available by journal Nature on January 15, 2014, a northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) flies in Tuscany, Italy. A new study released Wednesday, January 15, 2014 says the birds choreograph the flapping of their wings, getting a boost from an updraft of air in the wake of the flapping wings by flying behind the first bird and off to the side. When a flock of birds take advantage of these aerodynamics, they form a V. (Photo by Markus Unsöld/AP Photo)