Wednesday, July 14, 2021

2021 Audubon Bird Photography Winners

The Amateur Award photograph was taken by Robin Ulery of an adult and newly hatched Sandhill Crane in Florida.
The first Female Bird Prize was awarded to Elizabeth Yicheng Shen for her dynamic photo of a female Northern Harrier in flight.
The Youth Award winner was Arav Karighattam, who photographed a resting Purple Sandpiper he took in Massachusetts.

Photography at its best can heighten our awareness, allowing us to see the world more clearly. The same can be said about birding, and when we combine the two, magical things happen. Focusing our attention on the birds that share our planet can reveal everything from the finest details to the largest patterns of life, as illustrated by many of the 8,770 images and 261 videos entered in the 2021 Audubon Photography Contest by 2,416 photographers who entered their best bird photos.

The judges were again amazed by the beauty and breadth of contest entries, and thanked all participants. In addition to the Grand Prize, Professional, Amateur, and Youth bird photography categories, this year Audubon expanded the competition by adding 2 new prizes: A video award for the new Bird Video category, and a Female Bird prize awarded to the best photograph of a female bird across all divisions. They also continued the tradition of bestowing the Fisher Prize on the image that takes the most creative approach to photographing birds, and a Plants for Birds award to the top photograph depicting the relationship between birds and plants.

One trend became clear after the judging was completed: In contrast to recent years, few of the winning images were taken on far-reaching trips. Instead, most photos were taken by birders photographing close to home. This may be a reflection of the many ways that birds provided solace during the challenging and the restrictive conditions during the passing pandemic. As for the winners of the 2021 contest:

The Grand Prize photo was taken by amateur Carolina Fraser of a Greater Roadrunner in Texas.

The Amateur Award photograph was taken by Robin Ulery of an adult and newly hatched Sandhill Crane in Florida.

The Professional Award winner was a photo of a male Northern Cardinal taken by Steve Jessmore in Michigan.

The Youth Award winner was Arav Karighattam, who photographed a Purple Sandpiper taken in Massachusetts.

The first Female Bird Prize was awarded to Elizabeth Yicheng Shen for her photo of a female Northern Harrier.

The first Bird Video Award winner was Bill Bryant for his short video of a Red-tailed Hawk taken in Colorado.

The Plants for Birds Prize winner was Shirley Donald, who photographed a Red-winged Blackbird foraging at a water lily bloom in Quebec.

The Fisher Prize winner was Patrick Coughlin, who won for his photo of an Anna’s Hummingbird in California.

You can view all the winning bird photos, along with the list of honorable mention photographs for each of the primary categories, and much more information about the winning photographs listed above at https://www.audubon.org/magazine/summer-2021/the-2021-audubon-photography-awards-winners-and