Rare encounters and long-haul dedication anchor the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards, where two grand prizes span different regions and a slate of category winners showcases avian life in vivid detail. This year, Francisco Castro Escobar earned the top honor for Chile\/Colombia with a surprise meeting at dawn: a lesser horned owl perched on a cactus in northern Chile, a bird sometimes called \u201cthe ghost of the desert.\u201d As he puts it, \u201cThe largest owl in Chile gets this nickname because seeing one is so rare that it\u2019s like an apparition,\u201d Escobar says. In North America, Jacqueline Burke claimed the grand prize with a striking image of a bathing roseate spoonbill glowing against the dark interior of a Florida cove.<\/p>\n
Audubon Photography Awards runs two parallel opportunities, one for photographers in the U.S. and Canada and the other for those based in Chile and Colombia. Escobar\u2019s grand-prize photograph was made in Antofagasta, Chile, while Burke\u2019s winning frame comes from St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine, Florida. Together, the top awards exemplify how major expeditions, repeated attempts, and fortunate timing can converge in a single frame.<\/p>\n
Beyond the grand prizes, additional categories\u2014among them Birds Without Borders, Plants for Birds, Youth, and Conservation\u2014spotlight behavior, habitat, and the intersection of birds with human activity.<\/p>\n
The collection captures daily behavior\u2014ranging from hunting raptors to nectar-seeking woodpeckers\u2014and also hints at hazards. Galicki\u2019s image of northern gannets in Shetland, for instance, shows how old fishing nets, scavenged for nest material on a cliff, can imperil the birds. \u201cHours, days, or sometimes even years of patience and effort go into creating a scenario in which a photographer is in the right place, at the right time, to capture a fleeting moment,\u201d Audubon says. See all the winners and honorable mentions, including videos, on the contest\u2019s website.<\/p>\n