When younger photographer Juan David Camacho Márquez headed into the woods in El Queremal, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, to {photograph} birds, he hoped he would possibly seize a species he had spent years attempting to {photograph}. Little did he know, he was about to get his dream shot.
Juan’s placing picture of a Canada Warbler perched above a fragile spiderweb has now been named the Youth winner within the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards.
“I was walking through the woods with a group of birding friends one cloudy morning when I came across a Plain-backed Antpitta – a lifer for me and one of the first records of the species for the area,” he explains. “With that sighting, my day was already a success, but then I saw this Canada Warbler.”
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Juan provides, “I took a photo, but it was only when I looked at it later that I noticed the perfect dew-covered spiderweb hanging beneath the branch. The bird seems to be looking at the web, creating a natural harmony.
“For three years, I had tried many instances to get an honest picture of this species, however I hadn’t but succeeded. What you see earlier than you is a dream fulfilled.”
Youth Winner
Contest: Chile and Colombia
Species: Canada Warbler
Location: El Queremal, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Gear: Sony A6700 + Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
Exposure: 1/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 6400
Bird Lore
Found in its namesake nation for less than half the year, the Canada Warbler is a long-distance migrant. It spends the nonbreeding season mostly in South America at middle elevations in the Andes, where it largely sticks to dense understory of rain forest and cloud forest.
It will sometimes join with flocks of other migrant or resident birds – especially those that follow swarms of army ants. The Canada Warbler then seizes the chance to grab smaller insects that the ants scare up.
Judge’s Take (Sebastian Herzog)
“Capturing this intriguing composition of an adult male Canada Warbler – a migratory species that rarely stays still – requires shooting at just the right moment, with a very sharp focus and the ideal depth of field.
“Here, the bird seems to pause for a second in its constant search for food to gaze at a spiderweb. The raindrops caught on the web shine and show off the web’s unique geometry. ”
The 2026 Audubon Photography Awards is a competition celebrating photographers who use their skills to highlight the beauty, challenges and threats facing birds across Chile, Colombia, Canada and the United States. You can explore all 2026 winning images here.
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