An award winning Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the 4th to 6th Grade category was created by Anya Poole from New Jersey.

The youth winners of the Art of Conservation Songbird Art Contest have been announced, with an exceptional response from more than 2,000 students across the United States. Winners were judged in 4 school-age categories: Kindergarten to 3rd grade, grades 4 to 6, grades 7 to 9, and high school classes 10 to 12. First place winners included Ruoxi from Virginia for a Cedar Waxwing submission, Terence from Washington for artwork of a Chipping Sparrow, Helen from Maryland for her depiction of Cedar Waxwings, and Jihoo from California for a Brown Creeper image.

Created to bring added awareness to the importance of songbirds and their critical conservation needs by Wildlife Forever in partnership with the US Forest Service, a panel of judges from birding and conservation groups selected state and national Songbird Art winners. This year’s contestants were asked to feature a Cedar Waxwing, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Chipping Sparrow, or Brown Creeper in their artwork. After students choose a species, they study to learn about the species, then create artwork that illustrates the bird in its habitat, and produce a creative writing text to describe the bird. First place winners were selected for each state, to be judged for national honors; and the 12 national winners were named last week. National winners will all receive prize packages from Wildlife Forever.

“This year’s entries were excellent,” said Addison Motta, Education and Communications Manager at Wildlife Forever. “The quality of both the artwork and creative writing consistently impresses me. It’s amazing to see what the students are learning and the connections they are making to birds through this contest.”