Bird of the Day, theme 'Birds Up Close'

natureAug 31, 202629919,512

Bird of the Day is a daily community event; today’s theme is #BirdsUpClose, asking participants to share intimate, close-range bird photos that reveal fine feather and facial detail. The gallery features tight headshots, backlit portraits, and action-close moments, with standout entries including a male Snowcap Hummingbird, a portrait of a Northern Cardinal, and a Dunnock approached close enough for macro detail. Other notable posts show a barn owl and a young barred owl at minimal focus distance, a Common Kingfisher and calliope hummingbird, and field shots of a Red-tailed Hawk, Cattle Egret, and a Robin mid-bath. Look for images emphasizing fine plumage, eye and beak closeups, and behaviors caught at very close range under the hashtag #BirdsUpClose.

SaraG

@hardlikearmour.bsky.social

Little brown birds are beautiful. #BirdsUpClose #BirdOfTheDay #Birds

A Pacific Wren perched on a twig with a bright green background. It's in three- quarters view with its beak tilted up towards the upper right corner.

199945d ago

22pcirish.bsky.social6

And wrens are particularly noisy little birds, for their size. Really rather lovely in the garden.

One Hundred and Sixty-One Wasps3

Fantastic shot, very challenging bird

nobsforgma.bsky.social2

One of these little guys checks out my porch every day, to make sure he hasn't missed anything. If I happen to open the door while he is there, he looks at me like, "Yeah, you want something?" and hops one more time and then flies away.

Verminous Scot2

A wee wren saved my sanity during the 1st Covid lockdown by landing on the fence outside my living room window and singing her beautiful wee song every day.

Rebecca Williams2

LBBs - little brown birds or little black birds. Some of the most seen in birders lists. 🤣

Justine Jones2

💚 Wonderful capture! and yes they are. 🤩

Aj d'Wit (Audrey)

@audjde.bsky.social

To say that I love this fella, would be an understatement. The #KingParrot is just magical. For 30 minutes I had the pleasure of his company one fine afternoon. I do so miss my backyard and the many feathered ones who visited. (Miss my fella too.) Helen's #BirdOfTheDay is #BirdsUpClose #ECK #Birds

An Australian King Parrot sits on a tree branch, facing left. His red head is highlighted by dappled light. The background is green.

Male Australian King-Parrots are the only Australian parrots with a completely red head. Females are similar to males except that they have a completely green head and breast. Both sexes have a red belly and a green back, with green wings and a long green tail. King parrots are normally encountered in pairs or family groups.

88845d ago

Marjo Slingerland-Boks2

What a lovely bird and wonderful photo ❤️ I can understand you missed those beauties Audrey 😍

Michael R Photography 🌿2

Oh wow, that's wonderful, Audrey. What a beautiful bird!

Alan H1

Great capture Audrey. Love it. 😍

Sharon1

Very handsome fella, Audrey ❤️💚

Martin Sepion1

Wow Audrey, what a beautiful creature! Nice photo too.

Aleesia1

I bow to the king! 👑 What a beauty, Audrey! ❤️💚

Mike Melton

@mikemelton.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay is #BirdsUpClose Here's a male Snowcap Hummingbird at @tapirvalley.bsky.social #hummingbirds #birds #nature

A small hummingbird with a bright white cap and dark iridescent purple-red plumage perches on a thin branch against a soft green background.

78545d ago

Helen Bennett 🌿2

Absolutely stunning capture... wonderful to see his beautiful iridescent feathers so close.👏 You are spoiling me today Mike with two gorgeous hummingbirds... I'm glad I choose this theme! Thank you ☺️

Grumpy 💙 European 🪶1

That‘s a great photo, not just as a bird capture, but to non birders as well! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

live-and-learn.bsky.social1

Love this. I'll never get tired of your snowcap pictures.

sabine.r1

what a beautiful little creature ♥️

nathan-jensen1988.bsky.social1

Awww! I love his fuzzy, little white cap of fluff!

C C Humphrey1

Lovely! Nothing like our local hummingbirds in SoCal

Victoria aka Blaze

@burrddoh.bsky.social

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BirdsUpClose 🪶

Red-bellied Woodpecker with a peanut in its beak. Black and white striped plumage and a large red patch on the back of its head

87444d ago

Keeping The Fé2

Not nearly as artistic, but this guy waited out the rain on our door sash. My wife named him Fred. #BirdsUpClose

AlinaHagen 🌊🎨📸 🥾1

Wow, fabulous shot! Love the red on the back of his head/neck!

Anne Kuhlman Moore1

The red-bellieds are so pretty.

heathrowe.bsky.social1

You know, if I had a job coming up with either nail polish colour names or paint colour names. That red would be gorgeous and I’d call it WoodPecker Red

Alex Sauerbrunn

@birdsbyalex.bsky.social

A portrait of a Northern Cardinal for today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme #BirdsUpClose #birds #nature #wildlife #photography

A close-up portrait of a red bird with a prominent crest and black mask around its bill. Photographed in Avon, Connecticut.

70945d ago

Freddie_Rose🌹 🇨🇦 ⚕️3

Taken in the winter on Merritt Island (Niagara) by my daughter.

Alexis Nomides1

The ALFRED HITCHCOCK of Cardinals...

Helen Bennett 🌿

@helenbennett.bsky.social

For today's #BirdOfTheDay it's #BirdsUpClose Any bird at close range, allowing you to see their lovely fine details! Like this beautiful Dunnock who came very close to me! 😊 📷 🪶 🤎 Alt: #BirdNameC any bird whose common name starts with the letter C! Happy Monday! 🕊️👋 #Birds #MacroMonday #ECK

A close up photograph of a Dunnock standing squarely on a weathered stone surface. The small bird is puffed up into a round, fluffy ball, facing to the right in sharp focus against a softly blurred, dark grey background. Its head and breast are a beautiful, dense slate-grey, which contrasts with a warm chestnut-brown and black-streaked back and wings. A prominent, rich reddish-brown eye stands out on its face, positioned just behind a fine, sharply pointed beak.The bird balances on two thin, scaly orange-pink legs, its long, curved claws gripping the concrete. The smooth, out-of-focus background isolates the bird, emphasising the fine textures of its feathers.

56245d ago

alisonwillis1.bsky.social2

I love a Dunnock 😍 Super capture 🥰

Adirondack Nature2

That's a very handsome bird. We don't have them here.

DoRayMeFarTed2

Robins get all the praise, but I'm #TeamDunnock

norfolkm2

Dunnock are so furtive and fidgety, I’m amazed you got such a super shot. A great capture of an overlooked bird 🫶

Barrie Cull2

Beautiful photo Helen. I love watching the Dunnocks which come into our garden. Very underrated birds.

Alan H1

Beautiful themes and stunning capture Helen. Good morning. Have a lovely day. ✨🙏🏼

JBC

@johnbcaddell.bsky.social

a barn #owl for #BirdsUpClose #BirdOfTheDay #birds #showheart

50144d ago

Aj d'Wit (Audrey)1

This is just wonderful. Great photo. 👍

@rodsclicks.bsky.social

A Coopers Hawk made an awkward landing and I clicked a pic #BirdOfTheDay Alt theme #BirdNameC #Wildlife #Nature #Birds

Cooper’s hawk perched on a pipe with a gazebo beam overhead forcing a crouched fit

50145d ago

Missy2

Its just a baby! Great shot!

jazzrat2000 AKA Bonsai anonymous1

They always look so mad

LovePet🐦‍⬛🦇🦉🦅🐋🫍🐘🐕‍🦺🐎🫏1

I have a big female one hunts and swoops all around my front porch and trees!

Linda Barnia King

@lindaking78.bsky.social

Female American Kestrel…they are monogamous, but don’t stay together during the winter months…females take over open ground areas…males move to trees & brush… #BirdoftheDay #BirdsUpClose #Birds #Falcons #BirdPhotography #Birding #BirdWatching #BirdsoftheWorld #BirdsofBlueSky #Raptors #PNW

43345d ago

wizard prang3

Human couples might learn from them.

Rhonda Howard

@1184outdoors.bsky.social

If you stay in one spot long enough, it seems that birds begin to view you as part of the landscape. This hawk landed at minimum focus distance, so I could see all the details. #BirdsUpClose #BirdOfTheDay 🪶 #ECK

Head & shoulder of a Red-tailed Hawk. The species has a lot of variation in plumage color; this one is a warm reddish brown all over, with subtle barring on its back feathers. It is facing away, but with its head turned to the left.

43345d ago

SoCal Leslie1

Well Rhonda this hawkoholic approves.

nalyd620.bsky.social1

Same with deer, especially those born on my property.

BevP *I Dissent!*🇺🇦🇨🇦🇸🇪🇲🇽🇪🇺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🌃🐳🦭🐧🦒🦊🦋🎶1

My birding photographer friend who is also my mentor told me this as we were shooting shore birds and it worked. Also helped that they were busy foraging in the tide pools but they were still wary until we'd been there a while.

PacBirds

@pacbirds.bsky.social

A calliope hummingbird for the #BirdsUpClose and #BirdNameC themes of #BirdOfTheDay picked by @helenbennett.bsky.social #birds #nature #photography #hummingbird #ECK

A closeup of a tiny rotund hummingbird with a streaked magenta gorget. It is the smallest bird in the US and Canada weighing only 2-3 grams.

27945d ago

Aintright

@aintright.bsky.social

Another of yesterday's shots of this gorgeous Common Kingfisher. #BirdOfTheDay #BirdNameC #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #wildlife #photography #nature #thelittlethings #ECK

26845d ago

Get To Know Nature

@gettoknownature.bsky.social

A headshot of an Osprey for #BirdsUpClose! Taken from my car so I wasn’t disturbing them. #BirdOfTheDay #birds 🌿

Close up photo of the head and shoulders of a brown and white bird of prey with a round orange eye.

23545d ago

Heather Jones4

Taken from the sun roof of my car while he was looking down at me from the top of a pole.

Indulged Cats1

That beak has seen some action.

dw4BoSox1

Wow. Gorgeous shot. I'm just pictuing the size of your zoom lense!! 😯

julielfrost.bsky.social

@julielfrost.bsky.social

A chestnut-sided warbler finds water in the early-morning dew. #BirdOfTheDay Alt theme #BirdNameC, any bird whose common name starts with the letter C. #Birds #Warblers #Photography #Nature #Wildlife #BirdsOfBluesky