The 2023 Audubon Photography Awards Zeros In on Threats to Avian Life Amid the Climate Emergency

Liron Gertsman, Rock Pigeons, White Rock, British Columbia, Canada. Audubon Photography Awards 2023 Grand Prize Winner. All images courtesy of Audubon Photography Awards, shared with permission

About two-thirds, or 389 species, of birds native to North America are at risk of extinction due to the effects of the climate crisis. Rising global temperatures are predicted to force adaption or migration to new territories, two consequences of human-caused change that imperil avian survival. Some of the most threatened species include the dunlin, short–eared owl, and Baltimore oriole, all of which are featured in this year’s Audubon Photography Awards.

Selected from 2,200 entries, the winners of the 2023 contest spotlight a mix of avian antics. A rock pigeon sweetly grooms a mate, a reddish egret snaps up a tiny fish, and a chinstrap penguin dive into frigid Antarctic waters. While not all species photographed are in immediate danger, the images together showcase birds’ vast diversity and its potential loss amid climate disaster.

The Audubon Photography Awards are now in the fourteenth year, and you can find all of the top entries from 2023, along with previous winners, on its site.

A bright yellow female Baltimore Oriole with thin light strands of grass held in her bill perches at the end of a branch and faces to the right in the frame. The strands billow around her, slightly out of focus, in front of a blurred green background.

Sandra M. Rothenberg, Baltimore Oriole, Warren, Pennsylvania. Audubon Photography Awards 2023 Female Bird Prize Winner

A Reddish Egret stands in shallow water against a blurred yellow background, its body facing left and its wings open behind it. A small fish and water droplets are suspended in the air in front of the bird’s open bill.

Nathan Arnold, Reddish Egret, San Carlos Bay-Bunche Beach Preserve, Fort Myers, Florida. Audubon Photography Awards 2023 Amateur Honorable Mention

Linda Scher, Verdin and cane cholla, Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, Arizona. Audubon Photography Awards 2023 Plants For Birds Winner

Thousands of Tree Swallows sit on two cypress snags in a swamp, looking like leaves. One tree is larger in the foreground and the other is smaller in the background. More birds fly around the trees, their dark forms in contrast to the purple and blue sky.

Vicki Santello, tree swallows and bald cypress, Atchafalaya Swamp, Louisiana. Audubon Photography Awards 2023 Plants For Birds Honorable Mention

A Chinstrap Penguin, wings outstretched, dives from an iceberg. Head down, its bill is nearly touching the water’s surface. In the background, a white and blue iceberg is capped with fresh white snow. Deeply etched lines on the iceberg’s sides appear like hashtags behind the black bird.

Karen Blackwood, Chinstrap Penguin, near Esperanza Station in Cierva Cove, Antarctica. Audubon Photography Awards 2023 Amateur Winner

Kieran Barlow, Dunlin, Barnegat Light, New Jersey. Audubon Photography Awards 2023 Youth Winner

Left: An Atlantic Puffin sits on the edge of a craggy cliffside, its head turned to the left, its white breast in sharp contrast to the gray background. Lime green algae and small purple wildflowers drape the cliff, breaking up the otherwise dark image. Right: A Brown Pelican at the top of the frame sits in the water, its wings pulled behind its body. In the dark water below is the crescent silhouette of a shark, its snout nearly touching the pelican.

Left: Shane Kalyn, Atlantic Puffin, Westman Islands, Iceland. Audubon Photography Awards 2023 Professional Winner. Right: Sunil Gopalan, Brown Pelican, Galapagos National Park, Ecuador. Audubon Photography Awards 2023 Fisher Prize Winner