Audubon Photography Awards 2025 Winners Showcase the Beauty of Birds Across the Americas

The National Audubon Society has announced the winners of the 2025 Audubon Photography Awards, now in its sixteenth year. For the first time, the competition expanded to Chile and Colombia, with judges awarding separate prizes for those regions alongside the United States and Canada.

Grand Prize Winners of the 2025 Audubon Photo Contest

The Grand Prize Winner for Chile and Colombia is Felipe Esteban Toledo Alarcón for his image of a Ringed Kingfisher, captured in Saval Park, Valdivia, Chile. His photograph shows the bird exploding upward from the water, droplets frozen in sharp detail around its wet body, shaggy crest, white collar, and rufous belly. The moment is as dramatic as it is precise, capturing the power and beauty of this striking species.

The Grand Prize Winner for the United States and Canada is Liron Gertsman for his photograph of Magnificent Frigatebirds, taken in Teacapán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Nearly two dozen birds soar across a deep blue sky, their long wings and forked tails silhouetted against wispy clouds and a glowing halo around the sun. The image conveys both the elegance and the sheer spectacle of these seabirds in flight. If I may say, it’s also my favorite. These birds in flight remind me of pterodactyls, and that was my favorite dinosaur when I was a kid.

This year’s contest also introduced two new categories. First, it’s the Birds Without Borders Prize, which recognizes images of species that migrate across international boundaries. And second, the Conservation Prize, which highlights conservation challenges and the work being done to address them.

As someone who loves birds, I can’t help but marvel at the sheer diversity captured in this year’s winning images. Birds are such strange, beautiful creatures – sometimes delicate, sometimes dramatic, always surprising. From the shimmer of a Blackburnian Warbler to the spectacle of thousands of Snow Geese in motion, the photos remind us how extraordinary it is to share the world with them.

Winning and honorable mention photographs and videos will be published in Audubon magazine, featured in the Fall 2025 print issue, and showcased in digital galleries on Audubon’s website.

Award Categories in 2025

The 2025 Audubon Photography Awards spanned eight categories, each designed to highlight a different facet of avian beauty and versatility. From sweeping landscapes to conservation-focused projects, the contest recognized both new and longstanding prizes. Here are this year’s categories, both including US and Canada, and Chile and Colombia:

• Grand Prize (Chile and Colombia; United States and Canada)
• Birds in Landscapes Prize
• Birds Without Borders Prize
• Conservation Prize
• Plants for Birds Prize
• Female Bird Prize
• Youth Prize
• Video Prize

The 2025 Audubon Photography Awards show how photography captures not only the beauty of birds but also their role in the larger story of our environment. By expanding into Chile and Colombia and adding new conservation-focused categories, the contest highlights the connections birds create across the Americas. See the full gallery of winners below and honorable mentions on Audubon’s website, and enjoy the extraordinary variety of birds captured in this year’s competition.

Category Winners: USA and Canada

Category Winners: Chile and Columbia

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