This year photographers from across the United States and Canada submitted more than 8,000 images to the ninth annual Audubon Photography Awards, and our panel of expert judges whittled down the entries to four exceptional winners. We know you want to see more of the entries, so every year we select 100 additional photographs to share. Displayed in no particular order, the images here feature birds in all their varied glory, from intimate portraits of family life to fascinating feeding behavior to massive flocks in motion.
Settle in and prepare to be delighted by the variety of birdlife and the story behind each shot—we certainly were. And should the stunning images spark an interest in picking up a camera to capture the beauty of birds, check out our photography guide; it’s got everything you need to get started, including tips and how-to’s, ethical guidelines, and gear recommendations. Next year, it could be your shot that makes the cut.
Category: Professional
Photographer: Cindy Goeddel
Species: Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Location: Ambergris Caye, Belize
Story Behind the Shot: Goeddel is accustomed to hard-earned photographs achieved by spending long hours in unforgiving conditions. But that’s not always the case. While on vacation on Ambergris Caye, Belize’s largest island, she enjoyed photographing this Golden-fronted Woodpecker nest cavity over several days, and captured this image of one of many morning food deliveries as both parents worked tirelessly to bring insects and fruit to their ravenous young.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Judy Lynn Malloch
Species: Pyrrhuloxia
Location: Santa Clara Ranch, McCook, TX
Story Behind the Shot: At Santa Clara Ranch, a wildlife sanctuary in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Malloch observed territorial behavior among birds visiting a watering hole—conduct she captured in this photo of a feisty Pyrrhuloxia, a close relative of the Northern Cardinal that inhabits the desert Southwest. The songbird’s aggressive posture may be intended to scare off other birds, but viewers can’t help but be drawn to the Pyrrhuloxia’s beautiful colors in Malloch’s photo.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Feng Qiao
Species: White-tailed Ptarmigan
Location: Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada
Story Behind the Shot: It took two years, and four visits, to Kananaskis Country, a park system west of Calgary, before Qiao finally photographed one of the elusive, elegantly camouflaged White-tailed Ptarmigans that live there. He was just in time: One week later, the road he took into the park would be closed for the winter season. The thick snow allowed Qiao to bury himself and hide from the bird, and provided a dreamlike foreground for the image.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Susan Ellison
Species: Snowy Plover
Location: San Luis Pass, Galveston, TX
Story Behind the Shot: Sometimes mistakes create opportunities. Ellison was supposed to meet a photographer friend on the beach, but she got lost and ended up at a different spot. Then she realized she’d forgotten a key piece of gear for taking low-angle shots. Determined not to waste the remaining evening light, Ellison soldiered on, eventually encountering this Snowy Plover foraging by itself. Making do with the gear at hand, she came away with this image of the fast-moving plover and its reflection in the retreating surf.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Cynthia Herrick
Species: Snowy Egret
Location: Anna Maria Island, FL
Story Behind the Shot: After being in a head-on car crash, Herrick’s friends invited her to recuperate at their home on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where she became fascinated by the local bird life. As the sun was setting one evening, Herrick lay on the beach, propped herself up on her elbows, camera at the ready, and waited. Before long, this Snowy Egret approached, too focused on a house fly to notice the photographer. Just after Herrick snapped this photo, the egret harpooned and gobbled the fly.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Kevin Malo
Species: American Coot
Location: Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, Port Aransas, TX
Story Behind the Shot: Malo says he’s long hoped to capture a close-up of the American Coot’s clownish lobed toes, which help the birds navigate marshy habitat. He finally got the chance on the boardwalk at a favorite birding hotspot, the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center along the Texas Gulf Coast. The boardwalk and surrounding landscape suffered heavy damage last year during Hurricane Harvey, but restoration efforts are underway.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Caroline Samson
Species: Bobolink
Location: Bowdoinham, ME
Story Behind the Shot: It was June, and the buttercups and daisies were in bloom in Samson’s horse pasture. When she saw this male Bobolink singing from a sapling among the wildflowers, she knew she had to photograph it. A barrier of shrubs and trees along the pasture’s edge provided the cover Samson needed to get this shot without spooking the bird. She chose a wide-open aperture to let the flowers blur while keeping the Bobolink in sharp focus.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Charles D. Johnson
Species: Common Loon
Location: Washington, NH
Story Behind the Shot: For more than a decade, Johnson and his wife have helped New Hampshire’s Loon Preservation Committee to monitor a pair of Common Loons that nest each year on Island Pond, a 200-acre glacial lake. Here, while her partner fishes across the lake, the female rests in the shallows on a warm summer evening against a colorful backdrop of aquatic plants.
Category: Youth
Photographer: Liron Gertsman
Species: Red-necked Phalarope
Location: Delta, British Columbia, Canada
Story Behind the Shot: Gertsman spends countless hours each year photographing shorebirds as they migrate through Canada’s Fraser River Delta near his Vancouver home. One August day, he spotted this juvenile Red-necked Phalarope foraging on its own at low tide. Gertsman carefully approached close enough to photograph it with a 400mm lens. The bird, apparently oblivious to the photographer, soon moved too close for the telephoto lens. Gertsman switched to a wide-angle lens, delivering this shot of the phalarope in its habitat.
Category: Youth
Photographer: Liron Gertsman
Species: Steller’s Jay
Location: West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Story Behind the Shot: Some of Gertsman’s earliest memories are of Steller’s Jays visiting his family’s backyard hazelnut tree in autumn. They may be common and familiar—Steller’s Jays are the provincial bird of British Columbia, where he lives—but Gertsman was still thrilled to see this one while on a winter hike. He was dazzled by its blue plumage against the white snow. After shooting close-ups of the cooperative corvid, he focused on wider-angle shots—like this one—to show the bird’s natural surroundings.
Category: Professional
Photographer: Bob Schamerhorn
Species: Great Egret
Location: St. Augustine, FL
Story Behind the Shot: At a St. Augustine rookery popular with photographers, Schamerhorn decided to use his longest telephoto lens to see if he could capture an intimate interaction between this Great Egret parent and offspring. To get the shot he wanted, he needed the adult to bend down toward the chick—a frustratingly rare event. Schamerhorn finally captured this moment when the parent woke the chick while tending the nest, its legs and plumage symmetrically framing the youngster’s wild hairdo.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Peter Brannon
Species: Reddish Egret
Location: Fort De Soto Park, St. Petersburg, FL
Story Behind the Shot: Reddish Egrets are flamboyant hunters, often flapping their substantial wings and running through the shallows to stir up prey. Brannon lay in the water for a low-angle shot of this egret foraging at low tide, making a bipod of his elbows to steady the camera. When the bird spooked a school of small fish, Brannon snapped his shutter as they leaped into frame.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Jesse Gordon
Species: American Oystercatcher
Location: Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, NY
Story Behind the Shot: Gordon was flat on the ground as this American Oystercatcher family approached, both to photograph them from eye level and to avoid disturbing them. The chicks strolled close alongside their parents, watching carefully as the adults dug for sand crabs. Soon they passed right in front of the camera, offering a glimpse of what Gordon calls “a tender and fascinating family moment” and a window into the lives of these beautiful shorebirds.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Karl Bardon
Species: Common Goldeneye
Location: Canal Park, Duluth, MN
Story Behind the Shot: The shipping canal in Duluth only ices over during the coldest weather, making it a great spot to find overwintering Common Goldeneyes. Bardon, a local, regularly visits to photograph the striking ducks. On this subzero morning, just after sunrise, he found the birds clustered in the last remaining window of open water, with “sea smoke” rising in the air. Bardon caught this photo of a rowdy moment when the flock skittered across the water, sending spray into the frigid air.
Category: Professional
Photographer: Robert Rommel
Species: Barred Owl
Location: Circle B Bar Reserve, Lakeland, FL
Story Behind the Shot: Any visitor with a phone could have snagged an Instagram-worthy photo of the Barred Owl pair that built their nest right above a popular hiking trail in central Florida’s Circle B Bar Reserve. But Rommel didn’t want just any shot—he spent a week with the duo, waiting for the ideal composition and perfect light. Early one morning, it all came together. Rommel resisted the temptation to move closer to the cooperative owl, instead opting to photograph from a distance in order to show the serene bird surrounded by live oaks draped in Spanish moss.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Peter Ismert
Species: Greater Sage-Grouse
Location: North Park, near Walden, CO
Story Behind the Shot: The Greater Sage-Grouse’s elaborate courtship displays have long fascinated Ismert, so he was excited to learn about a lek—the grounds where they perform their flashy dance—a few hours from his Denver home. He arrived in the early-morning dark and, using his vehicle as a blind, watched in awe as sunrise revealed sage-grouse displaying all around him. Ismert took home many photos from the visit, but this image of a male strutting through the snow is his favorite.
Category: Professional
Photographer: Dale Preston
Species: Atlantic Puffin
Location: Machias Seal Island, Maine/New Brunswick
Story Behind the Shot: Tiny Machias Seal Island, claimed by both the United States and Canada, is one of the world’s best sites for Atlantic Puffin photography. Preston was hidden in one of the island’s bird blinds as this fast-moving puffin approached. Behind it, he noticed a fishing vessel skirting the shore, and hoped to capture bird and boat in a single shot. His timing was perfect, nicely catching both the puffin’s dramatic features and the area’s maritime heritage.
Category: Professional
Photographer: Tim Boyer
Species: Western Grebe
Location: Ocean Shores, WA
Story Behind the Shot: Conventional wisdom used to hold that Western Grebes, with feet far back on their bodies, couldn’t walk on land. Add Boyer’s shot to a growing body of evidence that, while they’re far more agile on water, grebes can toddle along when they need to. Boyer spotted this bird resting on a beach as storm clouds cleared, and nabbed the shot from his vehicle, using bean bags to steady the camera. As the sun drew more beachgoers, the grebe staggered to the water’s edge and swam away.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Christopher Schlaf
Species: Wood Duck
Location: Washington Township, MI
Story Behind the Shot: Schlaf is fortunate to have a small lake near his home that hosts a wide variety of waterfowl species. He found this Wood Duck pair there one day and—correctly guessing from its behavior that it was about to take off—locked his camera’s focus on the male. Schlaf’s hunch, coupled with excellent morning light, enabled him to freeze the male’s wings and highlight its rich colors, while also showing the female in crystal-clear focus.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Roger van Gelder
Species: Say’s Phoebe
Location: Coronado National Forest, Sierra Vista, AZ
Story Behind the Shot: When he shoots fast-moving birds with his favorite manual-focus lens, van Gelder often ends up with photos of tail feathers and not much else. But he was quick to the draw when a Say’s Phoebe perched briefly in the grass at the historic Brown Canyon Ranch, now part of the Coronado National Forest. The bird was backlit, but the early morning light, which van Gelder had slept in his car to capture, created a mellow golden glow.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Dave Shaffer
Species: Pine Grosbeak
Location: Stone Lake, WI
Story Behind the Shot: Gazing out the window of his home while sipping coffee one frigid morning, Shaffer was surprised to see a group of Pine Grosbeaks, rare visitors to his Wisconsin woods. He tucked his pajama bottoms into his boots, threw on a coat, grabbed his camera and tripod, and headed outside. He realized that it was colder than he thought. Way colder: It was 10 below zero. He wasn’t wearing gloves. His breath kept fogging the viewfinder. Luckily, this female grosbeak landed in a nearby spruce. Shaffer held his breath, got the shot, and went back inside for hot coffee.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Barb D’Arpino
Species: Burrowing Owl
Location: Cape Coral, FL
Story Behind the Shot: By staying low to the ground and keeping her distance, D’Arpino has been able to document the natural behavior of Burrowing Owls on her regular photography trips to Florida. On this visit, she found a mother tidying up her burrow by kicking sand and debris out of the opening—smack into one of her owlets. D’Arpino wondered why the youngster didn’t flee the line of fire, but was happy to photograph this slapstick scene just as the sun broke over the horizon.
Category: Professional
Photographer: Cindy Goeddel
Species: American Dipper
Location: Yellowstone National Park
Story Behind the Shot: Goeddel spends enough time shooting in Yellowstone National Park to know that, on clear September days, twilight paints the LeHardy Rapids stretch of the Yellowstone River in swirls of blue and gold. On one such evening, she found this American Dipper diving and splashing in the rapids. The bird emerged holding a leaf, which it examined closely, turning it 360 degrees in its bill before dropping it in the river and watching it float away.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Carol Grenier
Species: Western Grebe
Location: Pyramid Lake, Washoe County, NV
