10 Wonderful Chicken Movies From the 2025 Audubon Photography Awards

The Audubon Photography Awards has chosen its 10 favourite movies from its 2025 competitors, which seize numerous fascinating hen behaviors.

Last yr, the Audubon Photography Awards expanded to incorporate the South American nations of Colombia and Chile. The 10 movies chosen are cut up equally between North America and South America.

The first video was taken by Danny Oh in Duxbury Beach, Massachusetts, exhibiting a snowy owl taking a shower in a melted snow puddle. “I had never seen a snowy owl bathing and was elated. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Oh. It was shot on a Sony a1 with a 200-600mm lens at 600mm.

The second video exhibits an Allen’s hummingbird feeding her chick in Irvine, California. Sukhjot Singh captured the candy scene within the wintertime.

“While incubating the eggs, she braved several downpours and cold, windy nights with 40 mph gusts,” he says. “It was a bittersweet moment when they took their first flight. I knew how tough their journey was and how hard their mom had worked to protect and provide for them. This sweet memory of her feeding a chick after its first flight will stay with me forever.”

Sukhjot Singh options within the checklist once more with a video of a blue-gray gnatcatcher doing precisely what its title suggests.

“During a visit to Sea and Sage Audubon in Southern California, I observed a small swarm of gnats hovering near a tree,” Singh says. “I quickly positioned myself and waited with patience. My efforts were rewarded when this Blue-gray Gnatcatcher made a swift approach and relished a late afternoon buffet. By slowing the footage from 120 frames per second to 24 frames per second, we can appreciate the gnatcatcher’s agile flying, particularly the brief moment when it pauses its wingbeats to descend gracefully.”

Traveling south now to Antioquia, Colombia, Ruben Torres Restrepo captured a mating dance between two golden-headed manakins. “Adult males perform to attract females, while juvenile males practice their ‘dance moves’,” he says. “At this particular site, I have recorded up to eight males at the same time.”

This slow-motion video of a torrent duck was filmed in Colombia. “Getting close to these ducks has been quite a challenge, as a single misstep will cause them to swiftly flee downstream,” says Leon Felipe Jimenez. “For this reason, I approach from downstream, letting the current flow toward me. I move quietly, reading their behavior and keeping my distance to not cause stress.”

“They always see me first, no matter how much camouflage or many hides I use,” he provides. “I have spent several years documenting the species’ natural history as part of a short film about Torrent Ducks in the Andean rivers of Colombia. This particular scene shows a chick and its father in the middle of a rushing river. For me, the scene captures the essence of this extraordinary duck: extreme adaptation, parental care, and resilience in the face of a dynamic environment.”

This frequent loon with a chick tucked underneath her wing was captured in Maine by Danny Oh. “I have been following this Common Loon family in Maine for many years,” says Oh. “This particular year, the pair had one baby. I believe this scene was from the first week after the loonlet had hatched. The baby was riding on its mother’s back in the afternoon after being fed the whole day, thus the baby was full and getting tired.”

These two cedar waxwings have been filmed in Montello, Wisconsin, by Andy Raupp. He constructed the shallow pool in his yard along with his Dad to draw birds that need to cool off on a sizzling day.

This stunning rainbow-bearded thornbill preening was captured within the Colombian Andes by Juan Jacobo Castillo.

A black-necked swan was filmed in Arauco, Chile, by Jesus Varela Monsalve with two chicks driving on its again.

This white-vented plumeleteer, a kind of hummingbird, was captured by Juan Antonio Alonso de Juan feeding on the flower of a nacedero tree within the photographer’s backyard.

To see the successful images from the 2025 Audubon Photography Awards, take a look at PetaPixel’s article from September.