Marilyn Terrell of National Geographic tells Boing Boing,

A Japanese red-crowned crane flailing in midair to impress a mate and a pair of orange-bellied parrots (fewer than 150 left) on a branch in Tasmania are some of the strikingly beautiful images of avian rarities among the winners in the first annual World’s Rarest Birds international photo competition.

Above, photo by Shane McInnes: the extremely rare kakapo of New Zealand.

This picture of the large, flightless bird approaching the camera snagged first place in the “critically endangered or extinct in the wild” category. Only 124 animals remain in the wild–the species has been largely wiped out by introduced predatory mammals such as feral cats.

View the whole gallery here.