Funniest wildlife photos of 2023: Air guitar 'roo and feuding finches take top honors
A kangaroo playing air guitar beat out 5,300 hilarious entries to take home top honors in this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards.
Founded in 2015 by two professional photographers, the popular annual contest is described as a "fun and free to enter photography competition unlike any other, showcasing seriously funny images of the earth’s most amazing wildlife."
Jason Moore’s photo of a kangaroo appearing to play air guitar in the suburbs of Perth, Australia, was the 2023 overall winner.
"I had been out with my camera photographing some waterfowl at a nearby lake," Moore explained in a press release. "I had been up at sunrise to take advantage of the ‘golden hour’ light, but it turned out to be a disappointing morning on the water. After leaving the lake, somewhat dejected, I decided to swing past an area of open bushland that I know of, because there are often a ‘mob’ of kangaroos feeding and sunning themselves in a field close to the road.
Air guitar roo in Perth, Australia, named overall winner of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023 (Jason Moore/Comedy Wildlife 2023)
"When I arrived, there were a number of Kangaroos in the field," Moore continued. "The morning light was still favourable so I grabbed my camera and headed off to a spot where I could get down to eye level with my subjects, amongst the biting ticks (the lengths we go to, just to get that perfect image.) I ended up shooting about 40 or 50 frames of the Kangaroos with various content including Mum’s, Joey’s and also some action shots of them bouncing along through the yellow field."
"Dispute," the 2023 people's choice winner by Jacek Stankiewicz of Kraków, Poland ( Jacek Stankiewicz/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards)
There were six category winners for the 2023 contest, including young photographer Jacek Stankiewicz with his image of two greenfinches called "Dispute." Stankiewicz also earned the coveted people’s choice award.
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Comedy wildlife video of the year went to Lily Bernau for her capture of a penguin who said "no thanks" to joining the rest of his colony for a cold sea plunge.
See the other 10 photos listed as "highly commended winners":