On this Earth Day, a day set aside to remember and appreciate the environment and our responsibilities and roles within it, I wanted to gather a selection of images of the incredibly diverse bird life that we share this planet with. Tens of billions of individual animals are divided among some 10,000 species, inhabiting nearly every environment on Earth. These fascinating creatures are at home on land, at sea, or in the sky, from our polar regions to the tropics. On a day meant for us to care for our environment, it seemed appropriate to feature some of those we share it with.
For Earth Day, a Photo Appreciation of Birds
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![A hummingbird with a crest of feathers flies near a flowering plant.]()
Read moreA rufous-crested coquette seeks out nectar from porterweed, photographed in Panama. #
Juan Carlos Vindas / Getty -
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![A flock of geese flies, silhouetted against the sky.]()
Read morePink-footed geese take off to feed from Montrose Basin on October 6, 2010, in Montrose, Scotland. #
Jeff J Mitchell / Getty -
![Two cranes leap together in a courtship ritual in a snowy field.]()
Read moreTwo Japanese red-crowned cranes leap and dance, performing a courtship ritual in the snow. #
Elmvilla / iStockphoto / Getty -
![A hen puffs out her feathers and wings, creating a sort of tent to hide and shelter several chicks.]()
Read moreA mother hen protects a group of chicks under her wings and body. #
Matthew Troke / iStockphoto / Getty -
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![A tight flock of starlings forms a cloud shaped like a rabbit's head.]()
Read moreA murmuration of starlings flies together before landing to sleep near the southern Israeli city of Rahat, in the Negev desert, on January 22, 2018. #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
![A side view of an owl, with its wings outstretched]()
Read moreAn owl is seen at the Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Animal Hospital in Ankara, Turkey, on February 28, 2024. #
Dogukan Keskinkilic / Anadolu / Getty -
![A close view of a peacock with its colorful tail feathers on display]()
Read moreA close view of a peacock with its colorful tail feathers on display #
Raghu Ramaswamy / iStockphoto / Getty -
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![A loon chick catches a ride on the back of a parent loon.]()
Read moreA loon chick catches a ride on the back of a parent, photographed in Canada. #
Pchoui / iStockphoto / Getty -
![A grouping of thousands of penguins]()
Read moreThousands of king penguins are pictured on Possession Island, part of the Crozet Islands, which are a sub-Antarctic archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean, on December 21, 2022. #
Patrick Hertzog / AFP / Getty -
![A large bird with a massive bill wades near tall grass]()
Read moreA shoebill wades along the shore of Lake Victoria, Uganda. #
Guenterguni / Getty -
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![An aerial view of flamingos taking off from a lake, forming many trails in the water.]()
Read moreAn aerial view of lesser flamingos taking off from Lake Bogoria, in Kenya #
Martin Harvey / Getty -
![The silhouette of a stork flying overhead]()
Read moreA stork flies, along with others nearby, as they begin to return to their nests with the warming weather, in Ankara, Turkey, on April 18, 2024. #
Osmancan Gurdogan / Anadolu / Getty -
![A duckling falls to the ground beside a tree.]()
Read moreA young wood duck leaps to the ground from its nest in a tree in southern Minnesota. #
Stan Tekiela / Getty -
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![A close view of a flamingo resting its head on its back]()
Read moreA close view of a Caribbean flamingo resting its head on its back #
Suzanna Ruby / Getty -
![A pair of water birds run across a lake's surface.]()
Read moreWestern grebes run across a lake during a mating ritual in Santa Clara, California. #
Gary Gao / 500px / Getty -
![A cormorant dives underwater through a school of fish.]()
Read moreA cormorant feeds on bait fish in the Sea of Cortez. #
Wildestanimal / Getty -
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![The head of a woodpecker pokes out of a hole in a tree trunk, with wood chips flying from its beak.]()
Read moreA pileated woodpecker carves a cavity out of a tree to create a nest. #
Carlos Carreno / Getty -
![Seabirds fly around a steep and rugged island cliff.]()
Read moreNorthern gannets fly around the remote and steep cliffs of the St. Kilda Archipelago in Scotland, home to the world's largest Gannet colony. #
Claffra / iStockphoto / Getty -
![An egret lifts its head up and displays a delicate array of feathers.]()
Read moreA great egret's lacelike plumage is displayed during a mating dance, photographed in Florida. #
Troy Harrison / Getty -
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![An underwater view of several penguins swimming]()
Read moreAn underwater view of king penguins swimming in Right Whale Bay, off South Georgia Island. #
Paul Souders / Getty -
![A close view of a puffin's head]()
Read moreA close view of an Atlantic puffin #
Nickjamesstock / iStockphoto / Getty -
![A pair of gannets perch on rocks, with thousands of nesting birds seen on the hillside beyond.]()
Read moreNorthern gannets stand in the only colony in France, on the French Breton island of Rouzic, off Perros-Guirec, on June 7, 2021. #
Loic Venance / AFP / Getty -
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![An underwater split shot of a heron perched above the water]()
Read moreAn underwater split shot of a heron perched above the water in a mangrove area in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. #
Khaichuin Sim / Getty -
![A tern mother tends to her newly hatched chicks.]()
Read moreA least tern mother tends to her newly hatched chicks on New York's Long Island. #
Adria Photography / Getty -
![A large bird with blue neck feathers and a tall bony crest on its head]()
Read moreA cassowary, photographed in Sydney, on November 26, 2014 #
Steve Christo / Corbis / Getty -
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![Two small birds perch on a slender branch, one of them hanging upside-down.]()
Read moreLong-tailed tits frolic on a snow-covered tree branch on January 20, 2024, in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, China. #
Chi Shiyong / VCG / Getty -
![A flock of white geese walks through a farm field in winter.]()
Read moreSnow geese descend upon on a farm in Ruthsburg, Maryland, on February 7, 2019. #
Jim Watson / AFP / Getty -
![A bird flies to a nest in a tree trunk, carrying a small insect in its beak, toward a waiting chick.]()
Read moreA hoopoe carries an insect to feed its waiting chick. #
Trucxanh9 / 500px / Getty -
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![A bald eagle perches atop a tree, calling out, leaving small puffs of visible breath in the air.]()
Read moreThe breath of a bald eagle is visible on a cold day in British Columbia, Canada. #
Robert Postma / Design Pics / Getty -
![A person holding a clipboard and wearing a hat is pecked at by a tern hovering above.]()
Read moreResearch assistant Michael Rickershauser is dive-bombed by a common tern as he records data at their nesting colony on Eastern Egg Rock, off the coast of Maine, on July 18, 2019. Padding under his hat helps soften the jab of their pointed beaks. The aggressive terns provide protection for neighboring puffins by chasing off predatory gulls. #
Robert F. Bukaty / AP
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