2026 Bird Photographer Of The Year Reveals Winners

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The Bird Photographer of the Year contest, the world's largest competition for avian imagery, recently announced its 2026 winners. This year's program drew more than 24,000 entries from photographers globally, showcasing a variety of bird behaviors from diving penguins to mating rituals and dramatic flights.

The competition highlights the diverse appearances and actions of birds while also raising awareness about challenges they face, including habitat loss, poaching, and pollution. Categories for the contest include Best Portrait, Bird Behavior, Conservation, and Urban Birds, along with three youth categories for photographers aged 17 years and younger.

The top honor for this year was awarded to Henley Spiers for his underwater photograph,“Sunball Rocket.” The image captures a northern gannet diving off the Shetland Islands, located approximately 110 miles north of mainland Scotland. These large seabirds, which typically nest on steep cliffs, are common in the northern nation, which hosts around 40 percent of the world's gannet population. However, some large colonies have experienced significant declines due to bird flu, an outbreak that could take up to 15 years to recover from.

Spiers described his process, stating,“When fish are spotted, the gannets fly into the wind and stretch out their wings as brakes, precisely adjusting their position in relation to their quarry. Moments later, with wings tucked in tightly, the gannet shape-shifts into a pointed torpedo, diving into the water at speeds of up to 86km/h.” This speed translates to more than 50 miles per hour.

Other gold award winners include:

Romain Barats,“Back to Fishing” (Gentoo penguin, Charcot Bay, Antarctica) in Birds in the Environment, Bronze Thomas Deliberto,“Radiant” (Greater sage-grouse, Utah, U.S.) in Best Portrait Donald Chin,“I'm Keeping Everyone Dry” (Tawny frogmouth, Perth, Australia) in Bird Behavior Ivan Sjögren,“Eye-to-Eye with a Short-Eared Owl” (Short-eared owl, British Columbia, Canada) in Birds in Flight Rahul Sachdev,“An Ostrich Horizon” (Ostrich, Amboseli, Kenya) in Black and White Paula Czaeczine,“Acrobat of the Skies” (Red-necked phalarope, Rost, Lofoten, Norway) in 12-14 Years Kent Stuart,“Not a Good Fishing Day” (Great blue heron, Washington, New Jersey, U.S.) in Conservation (Single Image) Gianluca Damiani,“Alter Ego” (Yellow-legged gull, Rome, Italy) in Urban Birds Volker Widmann,“Sunset Puffin” (Atlantic puffin, Skomer Island, U.K.) in Best Portrait, Silver Mark Carwardine,“Spread Eagle” (Bald eagle, Great Bear Rainforest, Canada) in Bird Behavior, Silver

The full list of winners can be viewed on the Bird Photographer of the Year website.

Source: This Is Colossal

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