A displaying Spruce Grouse was photographed in the northern forests in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by John Dickson. An ultimate photograph of a Pileated Woodpecker family at their nesting cavity in Florida by taken by Jan Nickols, one of many impressive photographs submitted to last year’s contest. A displaying pair of Red-crowned Cranes was photographed in a snowy setting in Hokkaido, Japan by Michele McCormick.

Your best bird photos and videos are due by March 25th to participate in this year’s Audubon Photography Awards, which celebrates the beauty and diversity of birds by honoring the best photos and videos of birdlife by bird photographers. The winning images, selected from thousands of entries, illustrate a dazzling array of bird species and behaviors, as well as the essential relationship between birds and the habitats they need to thrive. Entrants from the United States and Canada – and new this year, birders from Chile and Colombia – will be eligible for significant cash prizes and the chance to have their images featured in Audubon magazine.

This year, the Audubon Photography Awards will offer new sets of prizes for entrants on 2 continents – spanning, just as birds do, vital ecosystems across the Western Hemisphere. The new “Birds Without Borders” and “Conservation” categories will showcase not only how birds connect us, but also how photography inspires action to protect birds.

Categories & Prizes

You can enter photographs in 6 categories, from which the Grand Prize winning photograph will be selected and the photographer will be awarded $5,000 cash! The 6 categories and prizes include: The Youth category for 13 to 17 year olds (6 days at the Hog Island Audubon Camp for Teens in Maine); the Video Prize ($2,500 prize); the Female Bird category ($1,500 prize), the Plants for Birds category ($1,500 prize), the Birds Without Borders category ($1,500 prize), and the Conservation category ($1,500 prize). That’s a lot of incentive for birders to sort through their best bird photographs that fit into individual categories.

To learn more about the parameters for the kinds of photographs accepted for each category, and more information about the biggest bird photography contest, see Audubon Photography Awards | Audubon

And to get a better idea of the kinds of photos and quality of images that birders entered in last year’s contest, see the 100 Best Bird Photos selected by Audubon at The 2024 Audubon Photo Awards: The Top 100 | Audubon