Bloodthirsty by Thomas P. Peschak, Germany/South Africa — winner, Behaviour: birds. When rations run short on Wolf Island, in the remote northern Galápagos, the sharp-beaked ground finches become vampires. Their sitting targets are Nazca boobies and other large birds. The finches rely on a scant diet of seeds and insects, which regularly dries up, so they drink blood to survive. ‘I’ve seen more than half a dozen finches drinking from a single Nazca booby,’ says Tom. Rather than leave their nests the boobies tolerate the vampires, and the blood loss doesn’t seem to cause permanent harm. (Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

Miners carry a goats head for burial in the crater as part of an annual offering ceremony on the Ijen volcano on December 17, 2013 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The ritual is performed by the sulfur miners of Mount Ijen who slaughter a goat and then bury the head in the crater of mount Ijenn. The sacrifice is performed to ward off potential disasters for the next year. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Team Jayco Alula's Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen (L) and Soudal Quick-Step's Belgian rider Tim Merlier (2ndL) crash at the end of the first stage of the Renewi Tour multi-stage cycling race, from Riemst to Bilzen (163,6 km) on August 28, 2024. The five-day race takes place in Belgium and the Netherlands. (Photo by David Pintens/Belga via AFP Photo)

Actress Brittany Snow takes a selfie with a fan at The 2015 MTV Movie Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on April 12, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

The Perseid Meteor Shower seen over The Scorhill Stone Circle in Dartmoor, Devon on August 2, 2016. (Photo by John Baker/SWNS.com)

A United States Air Force (USAF) F-15 fighter jet travels at low altitude through the “Mach Loop” series of valleys near Dolgellau, north Wales on June 26, 2018. The Mach Loop valleys, situated between Dolgellau and Machynlleth, are regularly used by the military for operational low flying training which can take place as low as 76 metres from the nearest terrain. The USAF regularly use the loop to practice low-altitude flight, which confuses radar systems. (Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP Photo)

In the mountains of central Vietnam, a colossal pair of hands lifts a golden thread of walkway high above the clifftops, as if the mountain itself has sprouted limbs. Here: A giant hand structure at the Gold Bridge is seen on Ba Na hill near Danang city, Vietnam on August 1, 2018. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)