Butterflies, birds and zebras: The magic of animal motion

The Royal Society of Biology has released the shortlist for its annual photography competition.

The competition has two categories for amateur photographers: four entries were shortlisted for young photographer of the year and six for the photographer of the year.

The shortlisted images showcase animals caught on camera around the globe, submitted according to this year’s theme of Capturing Movement.

Butterfly feeding — Image caption In the young photographer category, Will Lawson captured this swallowtail butterfly as it was feeding in Hickling Broad, England.

Stampeding zebras — Image caption Also in the young photographer category, this photo by Lillian Quinn shows a herd of stampeding zebras crossing the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.

Image caption Sundhir Gaikward’s entry in the photographer of the year category shows amphibious mudskippers engaged in territorial fighting. Mudskippers in particular are able to survive in air for several days. They breathe through the moist linings of their mouths and throats, so they prefer high humidity and are often found in muddy mangrove swamps.

Red soldier beetle — Image caption This image by Nick Edwards shows a red soldier beetle on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The common red soldier beetle is usually spotted from June to August, often in mating pairs, in grasslands and woodlands.

Flock of grandala birds. — Image caption Kallol Mukherjee’s photo captures the near-symmetrical flight of a large flock of grandala birds. These birds remain at very high altitude in Himalayan terrain for nearly eight months of the year, and descend to lower altitudes only when the upper areas are completely covered in snow and food becomes scarce.

South American marsupial — Image caption In this nocturnal image taken in Manaus, Brazil Adrià López Baucells captures a small unidentified marsupial leaping.

Polar bear — Image caption Ian Stone’s photo is of a polar bear shaking off snow as it walks through the Hudson Bay, Canada. For two hours before the photo was taken, a blizzard had completely covered the bear and the surrounding area.

Hummingbird — Image caption This picture of a hummingbird, Anthracothorax nigricollis, was taken by Kristhian Castro as it flew at sunset in Colombia. Members of this family of birds can flap their wings up to 75 times per second.

Tiger with prey — Image caption Entitled Playtime, this entry in the young photographer category by Amogh Gaikwad shows a 15-month-old tiger cub playing with its prey after a successful hunt in Tadoba tiger reserve in India.

Two white-headed ducks fighting — Image caption Also in the young photographer category, Carlos Perez Naval’s photo shows two white-headed ducks fighting in the water in Ciudad Real, Spain.

The winners of the competition will be announced at the RSB annual awards ceremony on 10 October at The Francis Crick Institute, London, as part of this year’s Biology Week.

All images copyright of the individual named photographers.