Gabriel Jawień's photograph, titled "The Hungry Hitchhiker," won a Highly Commended award in the 15-17 age category.
The image shows a yellow-billed oxpecker perched on the shoulder of a giraffe in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, which Jawień visited with his family in 2024.
According to a description on the competition's website, Jawień spotted the giraffe grazing near his family's campsite during an early morning safari. He then noticed something moving on its shoulder and took the picture just as the oxpecker turned towards him.
Oxpeckers spend much of their time on large mammals, feeding on ticks, lice and biting flies found on their hosts' skin. They can also peck at wounds to feed on blood, potentially delaying healing, the museum's description says.
Jawień is particularly interested in reptiles and amphibians, which he says have fascinated him since childhood.
He photographs wildlife at reservoirs near his home in Poland and during family trips abroad.
His travels have taken him to Brazil, Namibia, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya, where he has encountered what he describes as nature of an "otherworldly character."
After graduating from high school, he plans to study zoology while continuing to pursue wildlife photography.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is organised and produced by London's Natural History Museum to showcase the relationship between photography and the natural world.
The winning photographs are on display at the museum until July next year.
(mk/gs)