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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.

Two pigeons face left in profile, each with one orange eye in view against a black background. One bird is preening the other, its bill buried in gray, green, and purple iridescent feathers.
Two rock pigeons face left in profile, each with one orange eye in view against a black background. One bird is preening the other, its bill buried in iridescent feathers. Liron Gertsman/Audubon Photography Awards/2023 Grand Prize Winner
An Atlantic Puffin sits on the edge of a craggy cliffside, its head turned to the left, its white breast in sharp contrast to the gray background. Lime green algae and small purple wildflowers drape the cliff, breaking up the otherwise dark image.
An Atlantic puffin sits on the edge of a craggy cliffside, its head turned, its white breast in sharp contrast to the gray background. Lime green algae and small purple wildflowers drape the cliff. Shane Kalyn/Audubon Photography Awards/2023 Professional Winner

[Related: Wild birds don’t need your backyard feeders to survive]

Chinstrap Penguin, wings outstretched, dives from an iceberg. Head down, its bill is nearly touching the water’s surface. In the background, a white and blue iceberg is capped with fresh white snow. Deeply etched lines on the iceberg’s sides appear like hashtags behind the black bird.
A Chinstrap penguin, wings outstretched, dives from an iceberg. Karen Blackwood/Audubon Photography Awards/2023 Amateur Winner
sandpiper in profile appears to have jumped from the rocks to avoid an incoming wave. The bird’s wings are behind its body, its feet just above the rock in front of a background of water droplets from the surf.
A sandpiper called a dunlin appears to have jumped from the rocks to avoid an incoming wave. Kieran Barlow/Audubon Photography Awards/2023 Youth Winner

[Related: Your state bird probably needs a makeover. Birder data is here to help.]

A Reddish Egret stands in shallow water against a blurred yellow background, its body facing left and its wings open behind it. A small fish and water droplets are suspended in the air in front of the bird’s open bill.
A reddish egret stands in shallow water with its wings outstretched. A small fish is suspended in the air in front of the bird’s open bill. Nathan Arnold /Audubon Photography Awards/2023 Amateur Honorable Mention
A gray Verdin with a yellow head and a small rust-colored patch on its wing stands in profile on a broken cacti branch that’s white, brown, and green. The bird carries a pale green caterpillar in its bill.
A gray verdin with a yellow head and a small rust-colored patch on its wing stands in profile on a broken cactus branch. The bird carries a pale green caterpillar in its bill. Linda Scher/Audubon Photography Awards/2023 Plants For Birds Winner
Animals
Birds
Wildlife
Photography