Category Archives: Take 5

Take 5: What’s for Lunch?

Take a scroll through your Instagram or Facebook feed, and there’s a good chance you’ll see a lot of pictures of food. Be it soulfully-prepared, home-cooked meals, fancy restaurant plates with artfully-drizzled sauces, or indulgent, cheesy diner dishes, it seems we can’t help but be captivated by food.

We’re not the only ones! Our friends in the animal kingdom have appetites just as healthy as our own, so today we’ve lined up five photos of professional eaters in action, from honeybees to herons. If you’ve got great pictures of your own of hungry wildlife in action, enter the 2016 Picture This: Your Great Outdoors Photo Contest. Bon appétit!

Baby Mallard © Nathan Goshgarian, Photo Contest 2014

Baby Mallard © Nathan Goshgarian, Photo Contest 2014

Very Hungry Caterpillar © Alyssa Mattei, Photo Contest 2015

Very Hungry Caterpillar © Alyssa Mattei, Photo Contest 2015

Eastern Chipmunk © Colleen Bruso, Photo Contest 2015

Eastern Chipmunk © Colleen Bruso, Photo Contest 2015

Honey bee © James Engberg, Photo Contest 2015

Honey bee © James Engberg, Photo Contest 2015

Black-Crowned Night-Heron © Derrick Jackson, Photo Contest 2015

Black-Crowned Night-Heron © Derrick Jackson, Photo Contest 2015

Small-eyed Sphinx Moths (Paonias myops) © Christine Silver, Photo Contest 2013

Take 5: Marvelous Moths

It’s National Moth Week! Okay, maybe not everyone is as excited about it as we are—but they should be!

Although they sometimes get a bad rap (only a handful of the thousands of species of moths are actually harmful pests), moths are crucial pollinators for many species of plants and are also key food sources for everything from bats to birds and from spiders to shrews. 

And because they are sensitive to changes in their environment, moths are important bioindicators, giving us clues to the health and diversity of their ecosystems as a whole.

Check out these five beautiful photographs of moths from past entries to our Picture This: Your Great Outdoors Photo Contest and enter your own images by September 30 for your chance to win!

Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) © Nancy Rodriguez, Photo Contest 2012

Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) © Nancy Rodriguez, Photo Contest 2012

Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia) © Suzette Johnson, Photo Contest 2012

Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia) © Suzette Johnson, Photo Contest 2012

Small-eyed Sphinx Moths (Paonias myops) © Christine Silver, Photo Contest 2013

Small-eyed Sphinx Moths (Paonias myops) © Christine Silver, Photo Contest 2013

Luna Moth (Actias luna) © Jane Morrisson, Photo Contest 2014

Luna Moth (Actias luna) © Jane Morrisson, Photo Contest 2014

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) © Jose Mendez, Photo Contest 2014

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) © Jose Mendes, Photo Contest 2014