With over 23,000 images entered into the competition this year, Bird Photographer of the Year is pleased to present our winners. Celebrating bird life from around the world, these images comprise some of the most incredible bird photos in the world taken by talented photographers, whilst also raising vital funds for our partner charity Birds on the Brink.
Taking the title of Bird Photographer of the Year, our Overall Winner is ‘When Worlds Collide’ by Patricia Homonylo. An impactful image showing over 4,000 birds that died colliding with windows in Toronto.
Homonylo wins the top prize of £3,500 and the prestigious title. Her image also won Gold Award in the Conservation (Single Image) category.
“Each year more than one billion birds die in North America alone due to collisions with windows,” says Homonylo. “I am a conservation photojournalist and have been working with the Fatal Light Awareness Program, where we save window-collision survivors in Toronto. Sadly, most of the birds we find are already dead. They are collected and at the end of the year we create this impactful display to honour the lives lost and increase public awareness.”
Reflected light poses a severe threat to birds. To a bird, a reflective surface like a window can appear to be a continuation of the landscape that is behind them. Consequently, birds may fly straight into windows at full speed. FLAP encourages people and businesses to use bird-safe films on windows, bird screens, or window grills. More information can be found on FLAP’s website.
Young Bird Photographer of the Year
The Young Bird Photographer of the Year 2024 was awarded to 14-year-old Spanish photographer Andrés Luis Domínguez Blanco for his creative angle on a nuthatch scrambling down an oak tree.
Best Portfolio – Winner: Wetlands Stories
Sponsored by OM System.
Our congratulations go to Bence Máté from Hungary, who wins the Best Portfolio award this year.
“Curiosity, harmony, fight for survival and spectacular moments are all part of the natural world, and I am always humbled to witness these intimate and eventful sights in nature,” says Máté. “I am fortunate to be surrounded by unlimited opportunities to observe and photograph these moments near to my home. By combining my knowledge of local birds with the creative use of the latest technologies, I created this portfolio of local wetland birds to tell their stories and highlight these spectacular moments in their lives.”
Video Award – Winner
Our congratulations go to Malkolm Boothroyd, who wins Gold in the Video Award. This award looks for a strong sequence of clips that create a powerful story.
Highly Commended
Best Portrait
An image that best captures the character of the subject bird and its distinctive features. We look for images that include lots of detail, captured in a classic pose or showing the animal’s features.
Gold – Alan Murphy, USA
Silver – Samual Stone, UK
Bronze – Markus Varesvuo, Finland
Highly Commended
Birds in the Environment
This category focuses on photos that best demonstrate the relationship between a bird and its habitat.
Gold – Kat Zhou, USA
Silver – Levi Fitze, Switzerland
Bronze – Jonas Beyer, Denmark
Highly Commended
Bird Behaviour
This category celebrates images that best depict a behaviour of a bird. This might be the lekking display of a black grouse, the courtship of a great crested grebe, or a singing robin.
Gold – Nathaniel Peck, USA
Silver – Jack Zhi, United States
Bronze – Tom Schandy, Norway
Highly Commended
Birds in Flight
Celebrating avian mastery of the sky, this category focuses on birds in flight.
Gold – Hermis Haridas, India
Silver – Nicolas Groffal, France
Bronze – Suliman Alatiqi, Kuwait
Highly Commended
Black and White
B&W can introduce simplicity and drama into images. This category celebrates the effective use of the monochromatic style.
Gold – David Stowe, Australia
Silver – William Steel, South Africa
Bronze – Sparky Stensaas, USA
Highly Commended
Urban Birds
In an increasingly urban world, many birds are forced to live on the doorsteps of humans. This category explores the world of urban bird photography.
Gold – Grzegorz Długosz, Poland
Silver – Boldizsár Szűcs, Hungary
Bronze – Tomáš Grim, Czech Republic
Highly Commended
Comedy Bird Photo
We want to see those funny moments in nature. This category looks for hilarious bird moments that are asking for a funny caption!
Gold – Nadia Haq, USA
Silver – Robert Gloeckner, USA
Bronze – Gary Collyer, UK
Highly Commended
Conservation (Single Image)
This category looks for strong conservation stories shown in one image.
Gold – Patricia Homonylo, Canada
Silver – Cheng Kang, Australia
Bronze – Joshua Galicki, USA
Highly Commended
Conservation Award
This category looks at images that tell a story of conservation efforts or the struggle of a particular species.
Our congratulations go to Chris Eley from the UK, who wins the Conservation Award this year for his series of images documenting the dangers of power lines to vultures.
Vultures and the Dangers of Power Lines
“Vulpro, a conservation organisation in South Africa, plays a critical role in protecting African vulture species as their populations rapidly decline. Listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Cape Vulture faces many threats, including power line collisions as this expansive network of power infrastructure criss-crosses their habitat,” says Eley. “The dedicated team at Vulpro are on hand to rescue and rehabilitate these birds, with releasable individuals monitored through vital GPS satellite tracking, like the one being attached to an African White-backed Vulture, a Critically Endangered species. Vultures that cannot be released play an integral role in ex situ breeding populations. Volunteering at Vulpro gave me the opportunity to document the innovative conservation work undertaken to protect these magnificent birds.”
15-17 years
This category celebrates the photography of those aged between 15 and 17 years old.
Gold – Emil Wagner, Germany
Silver – Iga Linka, Poland
Bronze – Daniel Martínez, Spain
12-14 years
Celebrating the photography of those aged between 12 and 14 years old.
Gold – Andrés Luis Domínguez Blanco, Spain
Silver – Matthew Wu, China
Bronze – Markus Duhme, Canada
11 and under
Celebrating the photography of those aged 11 years old or younger.
Gold – Julian Mendla, Germany
Silver – Alberto Román Gómez, Spain
Bronze – Julian Mendla, Germany
Commended Photographers
In the Collection 9 book, more than 250 images are featured from the competition. If not awarded above, these included photographers are Commended in the competition.
A list of all photographers that can be seen featured in the Collection 9 book is included below (click the list to view it larger):
