| Theme | Submissions Open | Submissions Close | Voting Opens | Voting Closes |
| On the Beach | 29 January | 26 February | 27 February | 19 March |
| Being Blue * Superb Fairywren images are not allowed |
26 March | 23 April | 24 April | 14 May |
| Small is Splendid - up to 20cm (8in), as noted in field guides |
21 May | 18 June | 19 June | 9 July |
| Birds in Arid Habitats | 16 July | 13 August | 14 August | 3 September |
| Feeding - either eating, or feeding young (but no nestlings!) |
10 September | 8 October | 9 October | 29 October |
| Conflict - either inter or intra species |
5 November | 3 December | 4 December | 24 December |
Please note: dates are approximate, and may be changed. Dates will be announced on our homepage, and in email messages to members; these announcements will also contain details of the theme, and any special competition rules.
You might notice that there is no "Best of 2018" theme for this year. We have decided to move this theme into the following year, which will allow photos taken at any time during the entire 2018 year to be entered for this theme.