BEST RARE-BIRD PICTURES

1.Asian Crested Ibis

A picture of an endangered Asian crested ibis soaring over China is a first-prize winner in the first annual World’s Rarest Birds international photo competition, organizers announced in January.Launched in 2010, the competition ranked pictures of birds that fall into three categories determined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature: endangered or data deficient, critically endangered or extinct in the wild, and critically endangered migratory species.

2.Scaly-Sided Merganser

Two endangered scaly-sided mergansers glide across the water in a picture that won fifth place in the “endangered or data deficient” category.
Habitat loss and illegal hunting have reduced the bird’s population to about 2,500 individuals in Russia and China, according to the nonprofit BirdLife International.