The National Audubon Society has unveiled remarkable selections from its 2025 Photography Awards Top 100, featuring extraordinary wildlife photographs that capture the beauty and complexity of bird behavior across diverse habitats worldwide. The collection showcases photographers' dedication to documenting avian life while highlighting both conservation challenges and the intricate relationships between species and their environments.
Among the standout images is Lisa Kaplowitz's prismatic capture of a Costa's hummingbird in Palm Springs, California. Inspired by Australian photographer Christian Spencer's pioneering work, Kaplowitz photographed the bird shortly after sunrise, creating a stunning rainbow effect as sunlight diffracted through the hummingbird's wings. Her particular fascination with Palm Springs' resident Costa's hummingbirds led to this mesmerizing shot that demonstrates the magical interplay between light and motion.
From the waters of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Gail Bisson captured an extraordinary moment involving a common merganser and a seal at an ocean-fed pond that remains ice-free during winter. While photographing a seal holding a fish in its flippers, Bisson suddenly noticed a common merganser appear in the frame. The interaction lasted less than a second, but she managed to capture three frames, with this image being the best of the series.
Protik Mohammad Hossain realized a long-held vision in Puyallup, Washington, where he captured white-crowned sparrows feeding on lupines with the glowing Mount Rainier in the background. Despite facing several technical challenges, Hossain successfully documented the moment when wildlife, blooming wildflowers, and the iconic mountain came together in a single frame, with two sparrows appearing to feed on the vibrant flowers.
From Colombia's Anaime region in Cajamarca, Tolima, León Felipe Jimenez photographed yellow-eared parrots returning to their nests in dead wax palms, Colombia's national tree. Positioning himself strategically in a palm stand at dusk, Jimenez focused on one cavity and waited patiently, not knowing which nest the parrots would choose. His patience paid off when one parrot flew directly into the frame he had selected.
Gero Heine's composition from Namibia's Sossusvlei in Namib-Naukluft National Park features three male ostriches walking in formation against the backdrop of Earth's tallest sand dunes. The striking visual of what Heine described as "three bachelors looking for trouble" demonstrates the powerful aesthetic appeal of odd-numbered groupings in nature photography.
In Japan's Hokkaido region, Yoshiki Nakamura captured whooper swans gathering in the open waters of Lake Kussharo, where hot springs prevent parts of the lake from freezing. While these graceful birds typically float individually in their own serene worlds, Nakamura documented a magical moment when many simultaneously raised their heads, all gazing in the same direction as if responding to an unseen cue.
Michael Yee's dynamic shot of an Anna's hummingbird at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont, California, showcases the bird's remarkable ability to drink airborne water droplets from a fountain. While other birds like warblers, tanagers, and finches bathed conventionally or perched at the edge to drink, the hummingbirds turned water consumption into an aerial ballet, appearing to manipulate time and water speed as they danced gracefully with the droplets.
From Malibu's Legacy Park, Trish Oster documented a juvenile pied-billed grebe's ambitious attempt to swallow a large non-native red swamp crayfish. Initially appearing to have "bitten off more than it could chew," the grebe miraculously managed to swallow the entire crayfish. Oster compensated for camera movement by using a high shutter speed of 1/3200 second and lowered exposure to make both subjects stand out against the background.
Álvaro Tapia González's kelp gull photograph from Pichilemu, Chile, required months of planning and multiple attempts thwarted by sudden weather changes. Despite nearly giving up due to cloud cover, encouragement from his partner led to the successful capture when light, bird movement, and landscape finally aligned as the birds sought shelter after hours of fishing.
Sarah Killingsworth's image of a common raven at Drakes Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore, California, tells a complex conservation story. Originally intending to photograph threatened western snowy plovers, she was drawn to this raven bathed in golden light and framed by crashing waves. The raven's presence, fueled by human waste and ranching operations, poses a threat to snowy plovers as corvids have learned to recognize protective exclosures and prey on breeding adults. Killingsworth notes that the raven isn't the villain but rather a symbol of how humans reshape natural dynamics and alter species balance.
Michael Dreese's atmospheric capture of a western cattle egret in Polk County, Florida, was taken on a foggy morning at a 1,000-foot-long fishing pier. With deck lights still on due to low light conditions, Dreese observed a large flock of cattle egrets taking flight and landing repeatedly. His goal was to capture a bird in flight framed precisely between the lights, creating a dramatic silhouette effect.
Adam Reinstein has spent five years documenting ruby-throated hummingbirds at Minneapolis' Longfellow Gardens each September during their southern migration. His routine involves two weeks of dawn-to-dusk photography, capturing the birds feeding, flying, perching, and preening against the ever-changing backdrop of blooms. This particular image required precise timing as he framed the portrait while the hummingbird watched a honeybee, capturing the moment when the bee faced the hummingbird before disappearing an instant later.
Arlene Moir-Swinton's sandhill crane family portrait from Trinity, Florida, documents both natural behavior and conservation challenges. Florida's sandhill cranes are year-round residents whose population faces risks from increased development. Trinity's transformation from farmland and cattle ranches to housing developments prompted local residents, including Moir-Swinton, to track crane families. This image shows parents teaching their colts to forage along a lake bordered by a new neighborhood adjacent to Trinity College of Florida.
Simon Smith captured the symbiotic relationship between glaucous-winged gulls and bears on Alaska's coastal mudflats in Lake Clark National Park. This relationship involves gulls alerting bears when tides are low enough for clamming, with bears digging up clams and leaving scraps for the gulls. Smith positioned himself low to capture the gull's perspective, waiting for a bear to walk into the foreground and create a natural frame for the bird.
Sarah Hong's white-eyed parakeet photograph from Brazil's Iguaçu National Park showcases the challenges of wildlife photography in dynamic conditions. Visiting the 1.7-mile stretch of waterfalls along the Brazil-Argentina border at dawn, Hong and her father encountered shifting mist colors and erratic parakeet movements. After wiping droplets from her lens and adjusting for the birds' swift, unpredictable flight patterns, she captured this fleeting moment as the sky brightened and flocks began to stir.
The complete collection of Top 100 photographs is available on the Audubon Society's website, representing the finest in contemporary wildlife photography and the dedication of photographers worldwide to documenting and celebrating avian life in all its magnificent diversity.
