Kristeen Baggetto, The Face of Resilience (ANIMALS 2026)

Our Australian White Ibis - I have so much respect, not to mention a very big soft spot, for these highly intelligent and resilient birds so do my best, every (photo) opportunity I get, to showcase how incredibly amazing they are in the hopes of changing people’s perception of them. I photographed this one at my local Botanic Gardens, a spot which although man-made, still provides a relatively natural setting, featuring treed areas and lakes, for these birds (and many others), to hang out in. In saying that, they also hang out at the local tip and around the city too, no large trees or lakes in sight, but I would never hold that against them because they are just doing whatever it takes to survive. They really are such adaptable and clever birds!

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.