Winners of the Bird Photographer of the Year 2026

Sunball Rocket, an image of a northern gannet plunging into the water to catch fish, emerged victorious in the 2026 Bird Photographer of the Year competition. This photograph, taken off the coast of Shetland, Scotland, outdid 24,000 other submissions to claim the top prize. The bird was hunting for food to nourish its young. When gannets observe fish, they adjust their flight to counter the wind, use their wings to decelerate, adjust their position perfectly, and then dive with wings tucked at speeds reaching up to 86 kilometers per hour.

They have evolved to cope with this intense moment, boasting muscles that lock their vertebrae, air sacs in their face and chest to guard against the impact, and nostrils that keep water out. As Spiers explained in the announcement, "The handsome northern gannets lead a dualistic existence. In the nest, their offspring are tenderly cared for, and their bond is strengthened by pointing their sharp beaks at the sky while gently caressing their white necks.

In flight, their hunting mode is activated, and their piercing yellow eyes, framed with blue circles, scan the sea for prey." Spiers was diving in the frigid 10°C waters off Shetland when he noticed the sun peering through the sea. "Even in summer, sunshine is not a constant at this remote British archipelago, so my artistic instincts kicked in when I saw the sunball from underwater.

I imagined the shot of a gannet diving straight through the middle of it, and I focused all my dive efforts on capturing that one frame," he stated. The gannets were diving all around him, but he maintained his focus on the sun. After a prolonged wait, a gannet dove through the sunball at the ideal location, and he captured the bird in mid-air.

The moment lasted only a fraction of a second. In the prize's portrait category, a bronze award was presented to David Stowe for capturing a western parotia (Parotia sefilata) dancing in the dark rainforest of West Papua, Indonesia. Tiny Dancer, Stowe's photograph, was awarded. A gold award in the "bird behavior" category went to Donald Chin for photographing a protective tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) near Perth, Australia.

As rain fell in the forest, the fledgling appeared to raise a wing to shield its siblings. Chin's image, named I'm Keeping Everyone Dry, earned him the gold. Alex Pansier's silver award in the "birds in flight" category went to a photograph featuring a swarm of guillemots (Uria aalge) in flight over Hornøya, Norway. The repetitive shapes in the image have an Escher-like quality.

Pansier captured this moment. Lastly, Luca Eberle from Italy photographed an Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) that had unfortunately been killed, stuffed, and discarded in Malta. Authorities are inspecting taxidermy samples to detect illegal hunting of protected species, causing some collectors to discard older specimens.

Here, a BirdLife Malta officer is shown finding the stuffed vulture, which had been left by the roadside. Eberle won a bronze for this conservation-related photograph.