The unique first-place Grand Prize winning photo by Pam Garcia. The second-place Grand Prize winning photo of a striking female Northern Cardinal by Deborah Yaworsky. The third-place Grand Prize winning photo of a displaying male Anna’s Hummingbird by Robert Hechler.

The top three Grand Prize winners were announced for the BirdSpotter Photo Contest, which was filled with a wealth of bright, creative, beautiful photos of birds this season. This popular photo contest received more than 1,900 entries and more than 6,700 birders voted to help choose winners throughout the contest period! Pam Garcia from Mansfield, Louisiana, won the first place Grand Prize! Pam’s photo shows four species – a Baltimore Oriole, Blue Jay, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and can you spot the Northern Cardinal?

Pam photographed the congregation of colorful birds while they circled around a prized offering of food – grape jelly served in a cut half of orange. Pam also won the People’s Choice for the Category 2 segment of the contest, which was entitled, “It’s a Numbers’ Game,” which provided her chance to qualify for the Grand Prize. The BirdSpotter Photo Contest is part of Project FeederWatch.

The second-place Grand Prize winner is Deborah Yaworsky from Olean, New York, who initially won the People’s Choice award in the contest’s Category 6 segment, titled “Fantastic Females,” with her stunning portrait of a female Northern Cardinal. Deborah shared her view that cardinals and snow are made for each other – and we agree!

The third-place Grand Prize winner is Robert Hechler from Vancouver, British Columbia. Robert was a People’s Choice winner in the final Category, “Rainbow Birds.” Robert took his photo of an Anna’s Hummingbird while on a study break at the University of British Columbia. Anna’s Hummingbirds are fairly common in suburban areas, as well as oak savannahs and open woodlands in the western tier of states and British Columbia.

As a part of Project FeederWatch, BirdSpotter Photo Contest is organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada, and sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited who provide great prizes to all of the winners! They give a huge thanks to all the dedicated birders who submitted photos, as well as those who viewed photos, commented, and voted during the contest. For more information, you can refer to https://feederwatch.org/blog/2020-2021-birdspotter-grand-prize-winners/