Photography

Photos: Birds in Early Springtime

Recent images of some of our fine feathered friends at work and at play in the warming Northern Hemisphere

By Alan Taylor

Updated at 12:11 p.m. ET on March 19, 2026

A stork perches on its nest atop a power pole, seen in silhouette against a backdrop of white clouds.
Sidar Can Eren / Anadolu / Getty
A stork perches on its nest atop a power pole after returning for spring, in the Mazgirt district of Tunceli, Turkey, on March 18, 2026.
A close view of a robin
Patrick Pleul / DPA / Getty
A robin, seen in Brandenburg, Germany, on March 8, 2026
A waterfowl flaps and runs across the surface of a pond while taking off.
Patrick Pleul / DPA / Reuters
A goldeneye takes flight near Kersdorf, Germany.
Two colorful pheasants walk across snowy ground.
Chi Shiyong / VCG / Getty
Ring-necked pheasants play in the snow at Longfeng wetland nature reserve on March 8, 2026, in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, China.
A heron chick leans over, looking up toward its mother.
Ronen Tivony / NurPhoto / Reuters
A great-blue-heron chick interacts with its mother at Wakodahatchee Wetlands, in Delray Beach, Florida, on March 3, 2026.
A small blue and yellow bird perches on a snow-covered branch.
Patrick Pleul / DPA / Getty
A blue tit perches on a snow-covered branch in Germany on January 3, 2026.
A pair of storks stand atop a nest at sunset.
Dogan Evsan / ZUMA Press Wire / Reuters
A pair of white storks stand atop a nest at sunset in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on February 24, 2026.
A woodpecker clings to the trunk of a tree with a large nut in its beak.
Patrick Pleul / DPA / Reuters
A great spotted woodpecker finds a walnut in the forest.
Two swans slide across the surface of a canal as they land.
David Gannon / AFP / Getty
Two swans land on the Landwehr Canal, in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, on March 4, 2026.
A flock of flamingos fly overhead, in formation.
Ibrahim Amro / AFP / Getty
Migrating pelicans fly over Beirut on March 16, 2026.
An egret perches on a tree, its feathers blowing in the wind.
Ronen Tivony / NurPhoto / Reuters
A great egret in breeding plumage stands at Wakodahatchee Wetlands, in Delray Beach, Florida, on March 7, 2026.
An eagle soars overhead.
Patrick Pleul / DPA / Getty
A white-tailed eagle soars above Brandenburg, Germany, on March 14, 2026.
The tails of four swans protrude from the water's surface as they feed on plants below.
Wang Zheng / Oriental Image via Reuters Connect
Swans feed in the Yellow River wetland in Dalad Banner, Ordos City, in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on March 8, 2026.
A small bird with a sharp crest perches on a branch.
Patrick Pleul / DPA / Reuters
A crested tit perches on a branch near Sieversdorf, Germany.
Two storks preen each other on their nest.
Boris Roessler / DPA / Reuters
Storks preen each other in their nest in Hesse, Germany, on March 10, 2026.
Thousands of geese, both on the ground and flying above in dense flocks.
Jerry Mennenga / ZUMA Press Wire / Reuters
Thousands of snow geese and greater white-fronted geese have begun their spring migration and passed through a marshland area at the Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge on February 18, 2026, near Mound City, Missouri.
A bird perches in a blossoming tree.
Yuan Xiansheng / Oriental Image / Reuters
Plum blossoms bloom on branches as a black-headed sibia perches in them in Wanmu Village, Youyang County, Chongqing, China, on March 3, 2026.
A crow perches on the back of a sheep and plucks wool from it.
Wolfram Steinberg / DPA / Reuters
A hooded crow perches on the back of a sheep and plucks wool to pad its nest, near Berlin, Germany, on March 9, 2026.
A visitor photographs a large wood stork perched on a boardwalk.
Ronen Tivony / NurPhoto / Reuters
A visitor photographs a wood stork perched on a boardwalk railing at Wakodahatchee Wetlands, in Delray Beach, Florida, on March 7, 2026.
Three heron chicks squabble, begging for food.
Ronen Tivony / NurPhoto / Reuters
Great-blue-heron chicks beg their mother for food at Wakodahatchee Wetlands on March 10, 2026.

This photo essay originally misidentified a flock of pelicans as flamingos (photo No. 10) and a black-headed sibia as a magpie (photo No. 17).

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.
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