Every year, photographers submit thousands of images to Audubon's Annual Photography Awards, and every year our panel of expert judges must whittle the contenders down to just four that represent the best of the best. There are many more worthy images, however, that capture birds in breathtaking scenes and fascinating behaviors, and so we've compiled 100 of those in the following photo gallery.
Go ahead and click through—we know you will be as taken with the variety of birdlife and the ingenuity of bird photographers as we were. And if you're inspired to pick up a camera and pursue avian subjects of your own, browse our guide to bird photography, where we've collected advice from experts, and tips on the best gear for getting started.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Ann Pacheco
Species: Atlantic Puffin
Location: Grimsey Island, Iceland
Story Behind the Shot: The cliffs of Grimsey Island, 40 kilometers off the north coast of Iceland, house a large colony of puffins, each with a chick tucked into a burrow. Lying at the top of the cliff, Pacheco waited to capture the delivery of food to the chicks. When she anticipated the puffin’s head turn to be parallel to her camera’s sensor, she clicked. Unlike most of the chicks, which scarfed down meals of small fish, this one had a Medusa-like beakful of eels.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Mick Thompson
Species: Gambel’s Quail
Location: Green Valley, AZ
Story Behind the Shot: By placing old saguaro cactus ribs out as a possible perch and tucking suet into nooks and crevices, Thompson successfully attracted this male Gambel’s Quail and then photographed him from behind a blind. Thompson loves the lines and lighting in this image—and in particular, that the quail looks as though it is about to be shot out of the ribs like a cannon.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Kirk Benson
Species: American Avocet
Location: San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, CA
Story Behind the Shot: The American Avocet feeds by walking through shallow ponds and sweeping its long bill from side to side to find its prey by touch. On this occasion, the pond was deep enough that the avocet’s whole head would submerge with each swipe—the reason there’s water flowing off of its neck in this image. In order to get this eye-level perspective Benson lay flat on his stomach and used a screw-in beanbag on the lens foot.
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Category: Professional
Photographer: Scott Dere
Species: Peregrine Falcon
Location: New York City, NY
Story Behind the Shot: Dere found a few birds bathing in a huge puddle that filled out parts of a parking lot in the Bronx. When a Peregrine Falcon came along, it scared all of the other birds away and claimed the bath for itself. Dere inched his car forward just enough to get a head-on photo. Surprisingly, the falcon wasn’t afraid, so he crept a few feet closer and began shooting from inside the car. The falcon soon lost interest in Dere and continued to do its own thing.
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Category: Professional
Photographer: Aaron Baggenstos
Species: Bald Eagle
Location: Skagit Valley, WA
Story Behind the Shot: Every year thousands of Bald Eagles gather along rivers in the Pacific Northwest in search of their favorite food, wild salmon that have swum upstream to spawn. When these two birds locked talons in a battle over one such fish Baggenstos was there to capture the action. To overcome the cloudy conditions he used a Nikon D4S camera body at ISO 3200, and he froze the moment by locking in his shutter speed at 1/2000. Lastly he shot to the right of the histogram to optimize results in post-processing, a technique he recommends for anyone photographing action in low light.
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Category: Professional
Photographer: Sue Dougherty
Species: Common Raven
Location: Yellowstone National Park
Story Behind the Shot: On a Yellowstone trip with her photo-enthusiast friends, Dougherty spotted a raven as she got out of the car. The bird cawed and strutted. Dougherty says she must have looked “ravenesque” to him because he fluffed up at her from only a few feet away. Capturing interactions such as this, she says, made her realize that people share the Earth with many other sentient beings worthy of respect and protection.
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Category: Professional
Photographer: Jefferson White
Species: Wren sp
Location: Worcester, MA
Story Behind the Shot: While enjoying an afternoon in his backyard, White noticed a head peeking out of one of the gourd birdhouses. It was a very hot, dry summer, and the little fellow seemed to need a break from the heat inside. The wren poked his head out, eyes shut tight, just enough to enjoy some fresh air.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Gary Robinette
Species: Golden-crowned Kinglet
Location: Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge, VA
Story Behind the Shot: Photographing Golden-crowned Kinglets were on Robinette’s bucket list, and so when he heard the kinglets had been spotted near Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge he went the next day. Though he knew their calls and habitat, Robinette had no idea how fast the birds are. So after a few misses, he was thrilled when a male kinglet presented itself with a full-crown display on a bare branch with no obstructions.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Barbara Baird
Species: Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Location: Laguna Seca Ranch, near Edinberg, TX
Story Behind the Shot: To Baird, it's always a joyous moment when a Golden-fronted Woodpecker shows up. She finds the species to be especially photogenic, with its beautifully colored feathers accented with black and white, and so was pleased one winter day to capture this image at Laguna Seca Ranch.
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Category: Professional
Photographer: Alice Cahill
Species: Cedar Waxwing
Location: Cuesta Park, San Luis Obispo, CA
Story Behind the Shot: Each year, Cedar Waxwings visit the central coast of California for a few months during late fall and early winter. They’re regular visitors to Cuesta Park, and when a flock staged themselves high in nearby Sycamore trees, Cahill was ready. She watched as multiple waves of waxwings swooped in to feast on native Toyon berries, including the bird in this image, which appeared to be showing off his prize before gobbling it down.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Mark Hendricks
Species: Von Der Decken’s Hornbill
Location: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Story Behind the Shot: One evening, during a month-long wilderness adventure in East Africa, Hendricks and his wife found their neighbor to be a male Von Der Decken’s Hornbill. It hunted ants as they set up camp, performing the traditional hornbill “toss and catch” with its meal. In order to avoid disturbing the bird, Hendricks belly crawled toward it and spent about 10 minutes photographing the feast.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Ralph Gaines
Species: Anhinga
Location: North Augusta, SC
Story Behind the Shot: Anhingas are known to search for food underwater by using their long, sharp mandibles. After foraging for a while, they like to spend time with their wings spread in the sun, grooming and airing out their feathers—a moment Gaines captured in this image, which shows off the bird’s unique feather patterns and behavior.
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Category: Professional
Photographer: Sean Crane
Species: Nazca Booby
Location: Genovesa Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Story Behind the Shot: While on the Galápagos Islands, Crane photographed three species of boobies, including the Nazca Booby in this image. Most were sitting on eggs or with their newborn chicks, which he observed looked like little piles of cotton with beaks sticking out. Crane got low to the ground to isolate the fuzzy birds from the dark background. It’s amazing how unafraid Galapagos wildlife is of humans, he says: “Even this vulnerable little chick seemed to be okay with the large man down on the ground staring back at it.”
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Glenn Conlan
Species: Peregrine Falcon
Location: LA County Coastal Ocean Cliff, CA
Story Behind the Shot: After a few days of observing and waiting, Conlan caught two falcons in an act of love. He had prefocused on the female perched on the edge of a cliff. As she bent over, the male swooped in. Conlan pressed the shutter button for seven to eight seconds, capturing the mating sequence in full.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Andrew Lee
Species: Western Grebe
Location: Lake Hodges, Escondido, CA
Story Behind the Shot: On a chilly day in February, Lee visited a California lake as the sun barely rose above the horizon. The air was filled with the calls of the Western Grebes. After about 20 minutes, two grebes suddenly appeared, extended their elegant, long necks, and raced with each other across the water. Lee raised his camera and quickly fired a burst of five shots, capturing this display of dramatic, finely choreographed courtship.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Warren Hatch
Species: American Oystercatcher
Location: Lido Beach, NY
Story Behind the Shot: Hatch captured a tender moment between parent and child. After foraging in the surf, the adult American Oystercatcher in this image headed back to the nest with a small crab. One chick spied the meal before his two siblings and hurried over. You could almost sense the parent’s pride (and amusement), Hatch says, as the chick wrestled to break into the crab.
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Category: Amateur
Photographer: Kirsten Tucker
Species: Green Bee-eater
Location: Phetchaburi Province, Thailand
Story Behind the Shot: Tucker spent three days birding in Phetchaburi Province in central Thailand, where she spotted 150 species. When this Green Bee-eater briefly emerged from a tangle of branches along the roadside, she was struck by the elegance of the bird’s lines and how its plumage perfectly reflected its environment—the blue of sky, brown of branch, and green of leaves.
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Category: Professional
Photographer: