2026 Contest Prizes

Entrants from the United States and Canada can win one of eight prizes in the 2026 contest. For more detail and conditions, please refer to the official contest rules. Prizes for residents of Chile and Colombia can be found here.

1. Grand Prize: $5,000 USD
One Grand Prize is granted to the highest-scoring photograph across all entries plus a voyage to Antarctica with HX Expeditions.

The Highlights of Antarctica voyage combines birding, conservation, and exploration on a one-of-a-kind trip with HX Expeditions, the world’s first and longest-running expedition cruise company and the first to operate hybrid battery-powered ships. All meals and beverages are included, along with a full program of expertly guided activities and excursions. The Grand Prize is awarded to the highest-scoring photograph across all entries.

2. Youth Prize: Six days at the Hog Island Audubon Camp for Teens, located off the coast of Maine. 

Hog Island Audubon Camp has been providing nature education in an unforgettable summer experience for generations. The teen session allows enthusiastic young birders to work with some of the country's best-known birders and ornithologists on field identification, bird ecology, and conservation, and to observe Audubon’s seabird conservation research in action. One Youth Prize is granted to the highest-scoring photograph across all youth entries.

3. Video Prize: $2,500
The Video Prize honors the most compelling footage of birds being birds—foraging, preening, bathing, courting. In this category, we’re looking for interesting behaviors and captivating scenes.

4. Female Bird Prize: $1,500
Photographs must depict a female bird. More elusive and typically less flashy than their male counterparts, female birds are an often overlooked and underappreciated subject of birding, bird photography, and even bird science.

5. Plants for Birds Prize: $1,500
Photographs must include birds interacting with identifiable plants (flowers, trees, bushes, grasses), all of which are native to the area in the United States or Canada in which the image was taken.

6. Birds Without Borders: $1,500
Photographs must depict birds with substantial migration (i.e, any bird that migrates far enough to cross international boundaries), taken anywhere along the bird's migration route across the Western Hemisphere.

7. Birds in Landscapes: $1,500
Photographs should highlight the relationship between birds and the places they live. The setting can be wild, urban, suburban, or rural. We encourage photographers to take a step back and look at the whole environment. Birds do not need to be close-up for the photograph to be successful.

8. Conservation: $1,500
Photographs should illustrate conservation challenges that birds face—for example, how climate change is affecting the resources and habitat that birds need for survival. Photographs can also show how taking action to address those challenges can improve conditions for birds and help them thrive.