Photographer Page

Tim Lamán

In a stunning display of reverse sexual dichromatism, female eclectus parrots are more vibrant than males, standing out like gems against their nesting hollows with bright red and blue plumage. Males, meanwhile, are green.

The December 2012 issue contained the story of two men setting out to document all 39 species of birds of paradise. It took 9 years, 18 expeditions, and 39,000 photographs, but they did it. Pictured here is a greater bird of paradise performing a courtship display on a treetop on Wokam Island, south of New Guinea.

The December 2012 issue contained the story of two men setting out to document all 39 species of birds of paradise. It took 9 years, 18 expeditions, and 39,000 photographs, but they did it. Pictured here is a greater bird of paradise performing a courtship display on a treetop on Wokam Island, south of New Guinea.

Whooper swans stir in the early morning light on Lake Kussharo in Hokkaido, Japan. Even in winter, hot springs keep the lake from freezing over entirely, creating a perfect roosting spot for the birds.

Two juvenile Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, play in the snow in Jigokudani, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Snow monkeys can live to be about 30 years old.

In Jigokudani, Japan, a couple of snow monkeys, also known as Japanese macaques, enjoy a dip in a hot spring. Their special coats keep them warm in subzero temperatures.

While some snakes spend the winter gathered in dens, they disperse widely the rest of the year, making it difficult to find food or mates. To survive, snakes have evolved the forked tongue. They use it to collect scent molecules, which they process within special organs, to discern whether they are nearing a food item or a deadly foe. Male snakes can also judge whether a female snake is of the same species, how ready she is to mate, and—from the intensity of the scents on each fork—in which direction she is moving.

Below the Mesa Arch, the Colorado River winds through Utah’s Canyonlands National Park. During a family motorhome trip through the Southwest, photographer Tim Laman and his son hiked to Mesa Arch just before sunrise. “The famous view, with the rising sun reflecting off the wall below to light up the underside of the arch, did not disappoint,” Laman says. “It was great to share it with him.”

One of the rarest tree kangaroo species, a Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus goodfellowi) is photographed perched on a tree in New Guinea’s Foja Mountains. Habitat loss is driving this species to the brink of extinction.

Golden bee flies, like this one on an alpine aster flower in Northern California, passes itself off as a bee in order to lay eggs in bees’ nests.