2022 Audubon Photography Awards Winners show us birds as we rarely see them

The National Audubon Society announced today the winners of the 2022 Audubon Photography Awards. Like every year, the goal of the contest is to showcase captivating behaviors and stunning looks of the birds around us. And also like every year – the selected photos show us the birds as we rarely see them.

Now in its thirteenth year, the contest awarded eight prizes across five divisions and 13 categories. The jury had to choose between 2,416 entrants from all 50 US states, Washington D.C., and seven Canadian provinces and territories. There were over 10,000 photos to go through, so I imagine it was a tough task to choose the best ones. They were judged on technical quality, originality, and artistic merit, and the best of the best were selected as winners and runner-ups of the 2022 contest.

The grand prize was awarded to Jack Zhi for his fantastic photo of white-tailed kites. Explaining his shot, Zhi said:

“I studied White-tailed Kite behavior for three years before I got this close-up. It was a challenge to get the action, distance, lighting, and angles of the individuals all right at the same time. The father, who teaches his fledglings to hunt, held a vole in his talons. The fledgling flew in and, in a blink, grabbed the rodent as the father let go. Wildlife does spectacular things—people walk by without even knowing. My passion is to capture that beauty and behavior and share it with people who don’t have the time to see it in nature.”

In addition to the grand prize, there are 12 more categories of the contest, including both stills and video:

Professional Award Winner
Amateur Award Winner
Youth Award Winner
Plants for Birds Award Winner
Video Award Winner
Female Bird Prize
Fisher Prize
Professional Honorable Mention
Amateur Honorable Mention
Youth Honorable Mention
Plants for Birds Honorable Mention
Video Honorable Mention

This year’s honorees show the beauty of birds and the joy of capturing them in their environments through photos and videos. Yet, Audubon’s climate science report Survival by Degrees reveals that two-thirds of North American birds are threatened by extinction from climate change, including species featured in the Audubon Photography Awards. Learn more about how climate change will impact birds in your communities by entering your zip code into Audubon’s Birds and Climate Visualizer.

Award winners and honorable mentions will be featured in the Summer 2022 issue of Audubon magazine. They will also travel the country as part of an Audubon Photography Awards exhibit, where they will be on display at 28 venues in 19 states – including many Audubon nature centers – between October 2022 and June 2023. And now, take a look at the rest of this year’s winners and runner-ups, and find more information on the contest’s website.

Professional Award Winner: Liron Gertsman