Audubon Florida celebrates Sunshine State winners in 2026 Audubon Photography Awards

Special to Lake Okeechobee News

On Wednesday, Sept. 2, the National Audubon Society introduced the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards, together with two pictures that seize chook life in Florida. Now in its seventeenth 12 months, the awards showcase gorgeous pictures and movies that remember the wonder and pleasure of birds whereas serving to to inform the story of hemispheric chook conservation. For the second 12 months, judges awarded prizes to residents of Chile and Colombia in addition to the United States and Canada, highlighting how birds join individuals throughout geographies and ecosystems.

Florida Winners

Jacqueline Burke gained a Grand Prize for her {photograph} of a Roseate Spoonbill on the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine, FL. As a Grand Prize winner, Burke obtained $5,000 and a voyage to Antarctica with HX Expeditions. Peter Brannon obtained an Honorable Mention within the Female Bird class for his {photograph} of a Common Nighthawk in Tampa, FL, and Xiao Hu of Gainesville, FL obtained an Honorable Mention for his Barred Owl video recorded in Virginia.

“Audubon Florida is thrilled to see such an iconic Florida bird, the Roseate Spoonbill, featured in a grand prize-winning photo,” says Julie Wraithmell, Executive Director, Audubon Florida. “Congratulations to Jacqueline Burke for winning the grand prize in the U.S. and Canada, and also to Florida residents Peter Brannon and Xiao Hu for their honorable mentions in this year’s Audubon Photography Awards.”

Audubon Has Studied the Roseate Spoonbill Since 1939

The Audubon Everglades Research Station (ERS) was established within the Florida Keys in 1939 by National Audubon Society’s first director of analysis, Robert Porter Allen. Allen started a full-time examine of the Roseate Spoonbill, residing amongst them in a tent for weeks at a time. At the time, scientists would sometimes examine birds’ consuming habits by killing them and analyzing their abdomen contents. However, the spoonbill was so scarce that Allen needed to discover one other solution to examine it. His analysis modified how scientists studied birds and left a legacy of greater than 85 years of knowledge investigating the spoonbill and its habitat.

Today, ERS researchers proceed to check the habits and nesting success of the enduring spoonbill, in addition to the stream of recent water into Florida Bay and the impacts that the diversion of water has had all through the Everglades ecosystem.

More in regards to the Audubon Photography Awards

Winners are revealed on-line in Audubon journal and can be featured within the Fall 2026 print concern. The annual Top 100 pictures can be introduced on September 23, 2026, and extra alternatives can be featured in digital galleries on Audubon’s web site.  

The 2027 Audubon Photography Awards will open for entries on January 13, 2027. Visit Audubon’s web site for particulars on the Chile and Colombia and U.S. and Canada contests.  The winners and honorable mentions are revealed on-line in Audubon journal, and winners can be featured within the Fall 2026 print concern.