Diverse and Dramatic Behaviors Top the 2026 Bird Photographer of the Year Contest

The Bird Photographer of the Year contest, the world's largest competition showcasing avian imagery, drew over 24,000 global entries this year. The submissions featured a diverse array of bird species, capturing their various appearances and behaviors, as well as highlighting the challenges they face due to human-induced habitat loss, poaching, pollution, and other factors.

The competition offers numerous categories, including Best Portrait, Bird Behavior, Conservation, Urban Birds, and special youth categories for photographers aged 17 and younger.

Henley Spiers emerged as the Overall Winner with his underwater photograph of a diving northern gannet off the Shetland Islands, captured near Scotland. This stunning image earned him Gold in the Birds in the Environment category. The northern gannet, known for its remarkable diving abilities, is a common sight in northern Scotland, where it nests on cliffs and rocks.

However, its population faces significant threats, as some colonies experienced severe losses due to bird flu outbreaks that may take up to 15 years to recover.

Other notable winners include Romain Barats, whose "Back to Fishing" bronze-winning image of a gentoo penguin in Antarctica, Thomas Deliberto's "Radiant" bronze for a greater sage-grouse in Utah, Donald Chin's "I'm Keeping Everyone Dry" gold for a tawny frogmouth in Australia, Ivan Sjögren's "Eye-to-Eye with a Short-Eared Owl" gold for a short-eared owl in British Colombia, Canada, Rahul Sachdev's "An Ostrich Horizon" gold for an ostrich in Kenya, and Paula Czaeczine's "Acrobat of the Skies" gold for a red-necked phalarope in Norway.

Additionally, Kent Stuart's "Not a Good Fishing Day" gold-winning image of a great blue heron in Washington, New Jersey, U.S., recognized the conservation challenges faced by these magnificent creatures.