Birds, often overlooked amid the hustle of daily life, grace virtually all of our surroundings. They play keen ecological roles as predators, pollinators, and seed-spreaders. Whether they fly above our heads or burrow below ground, many of these special creatures may be harmed by human activity and climate change, which some of the 2023 Audubon Photography Awards images aim to showcase. With a snap, click, and a whole lot of patience, the winners of this competition have captured the common and uncommon fliers around the world.
To snap the grand prize shot, professional photographer Liron Gertsman traveled about an hour south of his home in Vancouver, Canada, to squat under a pier. There he focused his lens on a familiar pair of birds, rock pigeons, often seen scavenging for food in crowded cities. Pigeons, like the couple Gertsman found, stay together for life. With a portable Canon camera, the grand prize winner captured the piercing eyes and multi-colored feathers of the birds.
Other competitors strayed farther from home, as distant as an Arctic cove, to snap shots of these warm-blooded animals in their habitats. They found wildlife as still as an Atlantic puffin quietly sitting on a cliff or as dynamic as a dunlin leaping by the waves. For more information and meaning behind each shot, visit the Audubon site, where you can check out the other winners and the video awards, too.
[Related: Wild birds don’t need your backyard feeders to survive]
[Related: Your state bird probably needs a makeover. Birder data is here to help.]
