Tweet! Here are the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards

Tweet! Here are the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards

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Tweet! Here are the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards

It’s a bird’s world, and we’re just living in it. Today, the National Audubon Society officially announced the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards. The contest is now in its 17th year and celebrates stunning photos (and even a few videos) that showcase the beauty of birds and the challenges they face. For the second year, the judges awarded prizes to residents of Chile and Colombia, as well as the United States and Canada, highlighting how avians connect us across geographies and ecosystems. 

This year’s Grand Prize winners each received $5,000 and a voyage to Antarctica with HX Expeditions—an expedition cruise company and Audubon’s exclusive cruise partner.

Take a peek at the winners in the gallery below. (Click to expand images to full screen.)

Prizes for United States and Canada Residents

Grand Prize: Jacqueline Burke, roseate spoonbill

a bird with pink feathers glides over the water
A roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, in St. Augustine, Florida. Image: Jacqueline Burke.

Youth Prize: Ian Shultz, rock pigeon

a pigeon with outstretched wings glides over water
A rock pigeon (Columba livia) in Golden Gardens Park in Seattle, Washington. Image: Ian Shultz.

Video Prize: Piper VanOrd, great blue heron

A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) at Allegheny Islands Wilderness, National Wild & Scenic Allegheny River, in Warren, Pennsylvania. Credit: Piper VanOrd.

Female Bird Prize: Gail Bisson, common merganser

a bird with black, white, and brown feathers flies over water with a fish in its mouth
A common merganser (Mergus merganser) in East Bay Sandbar, Nova Scotia, Canada. Image:  Gail Bisson.

Plants for Birds Prize: Mike Henry, Gila woodpecker and saguaro cactus

a bird with black and white feathers sticks its beak and most of its head into the yellow pollen-filled center of cactus flower
A Gila woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) and saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) in Tucson, Arizona. Image: Mike Henry.

Birds Without Borders Prize: Nick Parayko, Tennessee warbler

a bird with yellow-green feathers stands on a leaf
A Tennessee warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina) in photographer Nick Parayko’s backyard in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada. Image: Nick Parayko.

Birds in Landscapes Prize: Liron Gertsman, white-tailed tropicbird

a white bird flies by a volcano with red lava and white smoke spewing out
A white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in Hawai’i. Image: Liron Gertsman.

Conservation Prize: Josh Galicki, northern gannets

several white birds on a rock cliff with plastic
Northern gannets (Morus bassanus) on the Isle of Noss in the Shetland Islands, United Kingdom. Image: Josh Galicki.

Prizes for Chile and Colombia Residents

Grand Prize: Francisco Castro Escobar, lesser horned owl

an owl with gray, brown, and white feathers, with prominent black feathers over its eyes sits on a tree branch next to a spiky cactus
A lesser horned owl (Bubo magellanicus) in Antofagasta, Chile. Image: Castro Escobar.

Youth Prize: Juan David Camacho Márquez, Canada warbler

a bird with grey and black feathers with prominent yellow feathers on its belly stands on a branch of a tree with a spider web underneath it
A Canada warbler (Cardellina canadensis) in Doña Dora Birding, El Queremal, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Image: Juan David Camacho Márquez.

Video Prize: Nicolás Muñoz García, black-browed albatross

A black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) is on Isla Chañaral Marine Reserve, Huasco Province, Chile. The nearest town is Caleta Chañaral de Aceituno. Credit: Nicolás Muñoz García.

Birds Without Borders Prize: Rodrigo González Pairoa, black-browed albatross

a close-up of the profile of a bird with white feathers, a dark eye, and light orange beak
A black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) in Almirantazgo Fjord, Chile. Image: Rodrigo González Pairoa.

Conservation Prize: Santiago Pérez Rincón, yellow-eared parrot

a parrot sits n top of a palm tree trunk with green feather and yellow feathers on its face
A yellow-eared parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) in Anaime River Canyon, Rural District of the Municipality of Cajamarca, Department of Tolima, Colombia. Image: Santiago Pérez Rincón.

Plants for Birds Prize, Colombia: Santiago Giraldo, yellow-eared parrot and Quindio wax palm

two parrots with green feathers with yellow feathers on their faces touch beaks on the trunk of a palm tree. one of the birds is inside of a hole in the tree, while the other stands below
A yellow-eared parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) and Quindio wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense) in Anaime, Cajamarca, Tolima, Colombia. Image: Santiago Giraldo.

Birds in Landscapes Prize, Colombia: Faber Mosquera Álvarez, oilbird

a bird with gray and brown feathers flies in the dark night sky
Oilbird (Steatornis caripensis) in the Cañón de los Guácharos, Pijao, Quindío, Colombia. Image: Faber Mosquera Álvarez.

Birds in Landscapes Prize, Chile: Timothy Dhalleine, crested caracara

two birds with brown and white feathers stand by a pond and a lake underneath snow-capped mountains
A crested caracara (Caracara plancus) in Torres del Paine National Park, Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic region, Chile. Image: Timothy Dhalleine.

Coastal Birds Prize, Chile: Gonzalo Bertolotto Quintana, gentoo penguin

a top view of a penguin with white and black gliding through the ocean
A gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) in Fildes Bay, Antarctica, in the vicinity of the Chilean bases. Image: Gonzalo Bertolotto Quintana.
Gonzalo Bertolotto Q

The winners and honorable mentions are published online in Audubon magazine, and winners will be in the Fall 2026 print issue. The annual Top 100 photos will also be announced on September 23, 2026, and additional selections will be featured in digital galleries on Audubon’s website.  

The 2027 Audubon Photography Awards will open for entries on January 13, 2027. 

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