In an era dominated by screens, algorithmic feeds, and the growing pervasiveness of synthetic, AI-generated imagery, the raw, unfiltered truth of the natural world has rarely felt more precious. This was the resounding sentiment echoing through the global photography community as the winners of the BirdPhotographer of the Year 2026 competition were officially unveiled.
Widely recognized as the premier and largest competition of its kind on the globe, this year’s installment drew an astonishing 24,000 entries from passionate photographers spanning every corner of the planet. Competing for prestige, international recognition, and a £3,000 ($4,000) grand prize, entrants submitted portfolios that pushed the boundaries of fieldcraft, patience, and photographic artistry.
At the apex of this year’s contest stood British photographer Henley Spiers. His breathtaking, split-second capture of a northern gannet bursting through the ocean’s surface off the coast of Scotland captured the imagination of the judges and secured the overall grand prize. Spiers’ winning image serves as a masterclass in dynamic wildlife photography, encapsulating the raw power, elegance, and evolutionary perfection of one of Europe’s most formidable marine hunters.
Main Facts and the Grand Champion
The Bird Photographer of the Year (BPOTY) competition is more than just an aesthetic showcase; it is a rigorous global assessment of wildlife photography, celebrating the behaviors, environments, and plights of avian species. The adult competition is structured across eight distinct categories:
Additional accolades—including the Conservation Award, Portfolio Award, and Video Award, alongside specialized youth categories—ensured that a diverse spectrum of talent was recognized.
The undisputed star of the 2026 showcase, however, was Henley Spiers. Elaborating on his fascination with the subject of his winning photograph, Spiers described the fascinating, dualistic existence of the northern gannet.
"In the nest, their newborn is carefully nurtured, and a couple’s bond is reinforced by pointing sharp beaks to the sky as they tenderly stroke their white necks together," Spiers noted. "In flight, hunting mode takes over, and piercing yellow eyes, fringed with blue circles, scour the sea for prey."
When a target is locked, the mechanics of the gannet’s hunt are nothing short of ballistic. "When fish are spotted, the gannets fly into the wind and stretch out their wings as brakes, precisely adjusting their position in relation to their quarry," Spiers explained. "Moments later, with wings tucked in tightly, the gannet shape-shifts into a pointed torpedo, diving into the water at speeds of up to 86km/h."
A Chronology of Excellence: Category Gold, Silver, and Bronze Highlights
The journey to the BPOTY 2026 podium required months—often years—of waiting for the right light, weather conditions, and animal behavior. A chronological and categorical review of the podium finishers highlights the breathtaking scope of this year’s submissions:
Birds in the Environment
Gold: Henley Spiers (United Kingdom) for his northern gannet masterwork breaking through the ocean surface and sunlight.
Silver: Asmund Keilen for Majesty, capturing a golden eagle drifting in dark silhouette across a massive, orange full moon against snow-capped mountain peaks.
Bronze: Romain Barats for Back to Fishing, depicting a school of gentoo penguins surging upward through deep blue Antarctic waters amid rising columns of air bubbles.
Best Portrait
Gold: Thomas Deliberto for Radiant, showcasing a male greater sage-grouse during its hyper-intricate, fan-tailed courtship display against a dark, moody background.
Silver: Volker Widmann for Sunset Puffin, featuring an Atlantic puffin on Skomer Island framed against a warm, golden backdrop punctuated by soft bokeh highlights.
Bronze: David Stowe for Tiny Dancer, capturing a male Western Parotia performing its mesmerizing, iridescent dance in the dark rainforests of West Papua.
Bird Behaviour
Gold: Donald Chin for I’m Keeping Everyone Dry, which captures a fledgling tawny frogmouth stretching its wings over its siblings to shelter them from light raindrops.
Silver: Mark Carwardine for Spread Eagle, displaying a juvenile bald eagle with wings fully extended on a mossy log amidst a torrential rainstorm in Western Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest.
Bronze: Bernhard Schubert for Kleptoparasitism, freezing a high-stakes aerial confrontation between two frigatebirds fighting over a fisherman’s discarded catch in Tulum, Mexico.
Birds in Flight
Gold: Ivan Sjogren for Eye-to-Eye with a Short-Eared Owl, capturing the raptor’s piercing yellow eyes as it courses low over the dry grasses of British Columbia’s Fraser River Delta.
Silver: Alex Pansier for Patterns, revealing a massive, chaotic swarm of guillemots filling the Norwegian sky.
Bronze: Patryk Kurc for Lord of the Reedbeds, framing a secretive bittern launching from a sunlit Polish reedbed captured from a floating hide.
Black and White
Gold: Rahul Sachdev for An Ostrich Horizon, depicting a lone ostrich traversing the stark, flat, and dry lake bed of Amboseli, Kenya, under a dramatic, cloud-torn sky.
Silver: Raoul Slater for Grass Tree, featuring an Australian little wattlebird clinging to a slender, dark stalk against a minimalist background.
Bronze: Julian Terreros-Martin for Promenade Preening, capturing a little penguin navigating a Tasmanian boardwalk at night to reach its coastal burrow.
Conservation (Single Image)
Gold: Kent Stuart for Not a Good Day Fishing, highlighting a distressing reality in Washington state where a great blue heron is immobilized by a tangled fishing line and a bright orange-and-yellow bobber wrapped around its bill.
Silver: Yann Bigant for Birds in the Red, displaying a grim arrangement of raw bird carcasses, heads, and an eel laid out on blood-smeared ice for sale in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Bronze: Luca Eberle for Discarded Evidence, showing a BirdLife Malta officer discovering a discarded, stuffed Egyptian vulture—a critically endangered species—dumped near an informal roadside landfill.
Creative Perspectives
Gold: Asmund Keilen for Sundance, using an in-camera multiple exposure to capture a common swift slicing across the sun, reflected brilliantly in the glossy roof of a blue car.
Silver: Henley Spiers for Turbulence, offering an abstract, moody look at a northern gannet’s bright blue eyes partially obscured by rippled, icy British waters.
Bronze: Julian Lozinski for Grebe Impression, applying Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) to photograph a young great crested grebe on a dark, painterly body of water.
Urban Birds
Gold: Gianluca Damiani for Alter Ego, capturing a real seagull perched casually above a clever street mural in Rome depicting a seagull wearing a balaclava and gold chain.
Silver: Romain Barats for Deceptions Hope, portraying two gentoo penguins standing side-by-side against industrial, weathered metal architecture on Deception Island near the Antarctic Peninsula.
Bronze: Julian Fernandez Quilez for The Window of Dreams, framing a rock thrush utilizing an abandoned, rustic Spanish home as its sanctuary.
Supporting Data and Financial Contributions
Beyond its artistic and competitive merits, the Bird Photographer of the Year organization maintains a steadfast commitment to ecological preservation. This year, the competition successfully raised and donated more than £5,000 ($6,700) directly to its primary partner charity, Birds on the Brink.
This non-profit organization provides critical, life-line funding to grassroots bird conservation projects operating across the globe. By channeling entry fees and sponsorship capital back into fieldwork, habitat restoration, and anti-poaching initiatives, BPOTY ensures that the animals celebrated through the lens are actively protected in the wild.
The scale of the competition continues to grow year-on-year. With over 24,000 entries processed in 2026, the logistics require rigorous multi-stage judging panels comprising world-renowned wildlife photographers, conservationists, and ornithologists. The high volume of submissions underscores both the global democratization of high-end camera equipment and the surging public interest in wildlife photography as an art form and a conservation tool.
Official Responses and the Fight for Authenticity
In an era where digital creativity is increasingly dominated by algorithms, the leadership behind the competition used the 2026 awards ceremony to deliver a pointed message regarding photographic integrity.
Will Nicholls, Director of Bird Photographer of the Year, addressed the changing technological landscape head-on in his official statement:
"In a world where AI-generated imagery is becoming increasingly common, this year’s winners are a powerful reminder of the value of authenticity. Every image in the competition represents a real moment in the wild, earned through patience, dedication, and a genuine connection with nature. People will always value real stories told by real people, and this year’s extraordinary photographs celebrate the beauty, wonder, and authenticity of our natural world."
Judges echoed these sentiments, noting that while software enhancements are common in modern digital workflows, the foundational rule of the competition remains absolute: photographs must faithfully represent reality. The images that rose to the top were those that could not be prompted into existence by a machine; they required enduring freezing temperatures, battling maritime gales, sleeping in floating hides, and waiting days for a single fleeting behavioral display.
Implications for Conservation and Photography
The implications of the BPOTY 2026 competition stretch far beyond the gallery walls. As human expansion, industrial pollution, and climate change continue to squeeze global biodiversity, conservation-focused photography serves as an indispensable bridge between wildlife and the general public.
Images like Kent Stuart’s entangled great blue heron and Luca Eberle’s discovery of a poached Egyptian vulture do not merely win prizes—they serve as visual indictments of human carelessness and illegal wildlife trade. By thrusting these uncomfortable truths into the international spotlight, the competition weaponizes aesthetics in the defense of vulnerable ecosystems. When viewers are captivated by the stunning macro-portraits and dynamic flight shots, they are simultaneously confronted with the harsh conservation realities depicted in the single-image categories.
Furthermore, the launch of the next cycle—BPOTY 12—is already underway. Photographers of all experience levels, from ambitious amateurs to seasoned field professionals, are invited to submit their portfolios at birdpoty.com.
As the competition looks toward its next chapter, it leaves an indelible mark on the photography world. In 2026, the winning images reminded humanity that nature’s greatest stories do not require artificial enhancement. They simply require someone willing to wait, watch, and respect the wild.
By Jia Lissa 
Nana Muazin 
Raul Delapena Setiawan 
Asep Darmawan 