These 20 Breathtaking Fowl Pictures From the Audubon Photography Awards Seize the Marvel of the Winged World

From a seabird flying above an erupting volcano to a woodpecker with its face plunged right into a flower, the winners of the seventeenth Audubon Photography Awards rejoice birds, the locations they go and the unimaginable ways in which they survive.

Today, the National Audubon Society shared the winners and honorable mentions of its annual contest, which acknowledges images and movies of fowl habits.

For its first 15 years, the competitors was solely open to residents of the United States and Canada. Last yr, the nonprofit added a parallel competitors for photographers in Chile and Colombia—two international locations that “host some of the world’s most astounding avian biodiversity,” wrote the editors of Audubon journal final yr. Incorporating elements of South America into the competitors highlights “how birds connect people across geographies and ecosystems,” in accordance with a press release from the National Audubon Society. Separate panels of judges assessed the entries for every of the 2 areas.

“The judges loved the action, drama and striking lighting” within the grand prize-winning shot for the U.S. and Canada contest, as Mary Anne Karren, a contest decide and wildlife photographer, tells Audubon magazine. The successful picture, captured by photographer Jacqueline Burke, encompasses a roseate spoonbill bathing. It’s “an unusual take on a popular species,” Karren provides, because the birds are sometimes imaged whereas foraging.

In the Chile and Colombia contest, the grand prize winner additionally captures a spectacular fowl: a lesser horned owl. “Set against a dimly lit backdrop, the captivating gaze of this majestic owl’s intense yellow eyes stands out against its snow-white face, creating a fairy-tale atmosphere,” decide Sebastian Herzog, Audubon’s protected areas technique director for Latin America and the Caribbean, tells Audubon.

Beyond the grand prizes, the judges picked winners throughout wide-ranging classes that honor not simply birds however many elements of their ecology. The “birds without borders” class exhibits the far-flung locations that host migratory species, whereas “plants for birds” highlights the significance of their habitats. One prize even acknowledges feminine birds, which are usually neglected in wildlife pictures and science alike.

The following 20 images are this yr’s class winners, together with a couple of honorable mentions. Audubon will share the highest 100 photographs from the competition on September 23. Until then, check out the biodiversity and wonder captured in these counseled images.