Audubon Photography Awards 2026 winners revealed: Roseate Spoonbill and Lesser Horned Owl take top honors

The Audubon Photography Awards, one of the most established bird photography competitions, has announced its winners for the seventeenth consecutive year. According to the organization's official statement, the awards continue to celebrate photographs and videos that capture the beauty of birds.

The U.S./Canada Grand Prize went to Jacqueline Burke for her image of a Roseate Spoonbill, taken at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida. In the Chile/Colombia category, the Grand Prize was awarded to Francisco Castro Escobar for a photograph of a Lesser Horned Owl, captured at the Paposo Natural Preserve in Antofagasta, Chile.

Per Audubon's announcement, this year's Grand Prize winners receive more than a cash award. Alongside the standard $5,000 prize, both winners were awarded a voyage with HX Expeditions, notably including a trip to Antarctica — a detail that sets this year's award structure apart.

Looking at the broader results, judges awarded nine prizes to residents of Chile and Colombia and eight prizes to residents of the U.S. and Canada, reflecting the competition's cross-continental reach and its regional category structure.

Audubon is also continuing its annual tradition of releasing a wider selection of standout entries. The organization confirmed that the annual Top 100 photos will be announced on September 23, 2026, offering a more expansive look at the images submitted this year beyond the Grand Prize and category winners.