"Now a bird will fly out": 10 best photos from the National Audubon Society competition

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

These pictures show the life of birds in all its diversity and splendor.

Every spring, the National Audubon Society, which is dedicated to the conservation and research of birds, hosts a photography competition. The judges gather at the headquarters in Manhattan and determine the best of thousands of images submitted by residents of the United States and Canada. This year the meeting was held at Zoom: the jury members looked at more than 6,000 photos and chose 10 most worthy ones. Here they are.

1. Winner in the main category: Joanna Lentini

• View: eared cormorant.
• A place: Los Islotes, Mexico.

Snapshot history. “I have spent many hours underwater at the Californian sea lion rookery in La Paz Bay, but I have never seen cormorants diving there before. Distracted by the playful sea lions, I watched in awe as the cormorants threw themselves headfirst into the water, trying to catch the sardines swimming by. Although I admired these birds for a long time, I did not notice that at least one of them caught a fish. Adding fuel to the fire, curious baby sea lions rushed past the hunting birds and nibbled them from behind."

About the bird. Cormorants are excellent divers, perfectly adapted to quickly chase fish underwater. Their body is heavy, but streamlined, with thick plumage. While diving, they tightly press their wings to their sides, moving themselves forward with strong legs and webbed paws, turning in the water with the help of their tail. Some cormorants are able to dive more than 91 meters into the water column, but most of the hunt takes place at shallow depths.

2. Fisher Prize Winner: Marley Fuller-Morris

• View: American dipper.
• A place: Yosemite National Park, California.

Snapshot history. “I walked a little-known path in Yosemite Park to the top of a small waterfall and sat by the water. A minute later, a dipper flew up. The river flowed quickly, but it was not too deep. Instead of diving, the bird stuck its head under the water in search of prey. I thought the splatter would look great in the photo. The bird was getting closer and closer, and I sat and took picture after picture. I will remember this day as one of my favorite moments in Yosemite!"

About the bird. The American dipper lives on the edge - between air and water, between waves and their shores, between songbirds and waterfowl (but refers to songbirds). She demonstrates mastery over all elements and delights the most creative photographers.

3. Amateur Winner: Gail Bisson

• View: Great-necked tiger heron.
• A place: Tarcoles River, Costa Rica.

Snapshot history. “After a heavy tropical rain, I went for an afternoon boat trip on the Tarcoles River. It was still raining when we went down to the water, but when the sky finally cleared, we noticed this hollow-throated tiger heron walking along the river. As the boat sailed past, the bird leaned over the shore, watching us. To capture the beautiful, post-cloudy sky behind her, I lifted my camera and quickly switched to portrait orientation.”

About the bird. Stocky and plump, similar in structure to bitterns, the three species of tiger herons hide in swamps of mangrove forests and along rivers in the South American tropics. The long-necked tiger heron lives farther north than others, mainly from Mexico to Panama. These birds are usually most active at dawn and dusk, but lucky observers sometimes spot them hunting fish and frogs in daylight.

4. Winner Plants for Birds: Travis Bonovski

• View: American siskin.
• A place: Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Snapshot history. “During frequent visits to the Northern Mississippi Regional Park, I came across Sylphia piercellae and learned that its leaves can hold rainwater. I read that birds and animals drink it, so I always looked at the plants when passing by. Finally, at the end of July, I was lucky enough to see a female American siskin lowering her head into a bowl of leaves."

About the bird. The American siskin feeds mainly on seeds and even feeds chicks with them, pre-chewing. Sylphia flowers will give seeds later, but for now the plant serves as a watering place for birds: large leaves, located opposite each other and connected at the bases, form bowls with rainwater on the stem.

5. Professional Winner: Sue Doherty

• View: magnificent frigate.
• A place: Genovesa Island, Ecuador.

Snapshot history. “The sun was setting behind a nesting colony of frigates in the Galapagos Islands. The birds were very active and surprisingly close to us, and for me the moment was even more special because I was with good friends who were just as mesmerized by the scene. We lay down on the sand with cameras in our hands and took pictures. I spotted this male with a throat pouch illuminated by the sun and zoomed in to capture his portrait."

About the bird. Frigates are seabirds that spend a lot of time in the air. They do not swim, as they are practically unable to rise from the surface of the water. Therefore, they soar on long, sharp wings over tropical seas, sometimes for several weeks. During the mating season, males exhibit large swollen red throat sacs, flutter their wings and emit loud cries to attract females.

6. Winner in the youth category: Wayun Tiwari

• View: yellow-fronted Jacana.
• A place: New River, Orange Walk, Belize.

Snapshot history. “On a river trip down the New River, I noticed several yellow-fronted yakans in a meadow of water lilies and asked the captain to stop. I hoped that our ship would not scare away the birds, and could not believe my luck when one began to come closer and closer to us. The boat was rocking, but when the bird stopped for a moment to look into the water lily, I was able to take this special picture.

About the bird. Yakans have very long toes, allowing them to walk on floating river vegetation in search of insects and seeds. The yellow-fronted Jacana is common from Mexico to Panama and the Caribbean, and sometimes even peers into Texas.

7. Honorable Mention Amateur: Bibek Gosh

• View: calipa Anna.
• A place: Ardenwood Farm Historic Park, California.

Snapshot history. “Near my home in Fremont there is a historic farm with a fountain on it that attracts birds like a magnet. I was at the fountain looking for warblers and other migratory birds when I noticed this calipta living here all year round. She behaved very interestingly: she flew up to drink, and then stayed to play in the water, as if she was trying to catch a drop. After taking a few shots, I finally captured her success."

About the bird. Human activities are not always beneficial for birds, but Anna's Calipta makes the most of the changes we have brought to the landscape. Formerly a resident of Southern California and Baja California Sur in Mexico, it expanded its range east to Arizona and north to British Columbia. The advent of year-round gardens has allowed the bird to thrive in this new territory.

8. Honorable Mention Youth: Christopher Smith

• View: California earthen cuckoo.
• A place: San Joaquin, California.

Snapshot history. “While walking around the nature reserve in Fresno, I heard an earthen cuckoo cooing and calling for a partner. I followed the sound and found a bird with a gift in its beak - a very large fence iguana! The cuckoo sat over me for almost 10 minutes. The lighting was harsh and it was difficult to set up the camera properly, but I managed to get this shot. I love the way the photograph depicts the little predator with its prey."

About the bird. Ritual feeding is part of courtship in many birds, from cardinals to gulls and hawks. It is not difficult for a male Californian earthen cuckoo to catch a lizard to treat a female. But sometimes they also offer a large insect, some nesting material, or simply represent a presentation with an empty beak. It seems that birds, too, value not a gift, but attention.

9. Plants for Birds Honorable Mention: Natalie Robertson

• View: green chiffchaff songbird.
• A place: Point Peely National Park, Ontario, Canada.

Snapshot history. “This bird was difficult to photograph because it was frantically jumping from branch to branch, picking gooseberries - one of the plants that bloom in early spring in this part of Canada. Gooseberries are an important food source for the emaciated songbirds that fly north over the Great Lakes. I was terribly happy that I got a clear image of this green chiffchaff songbird drinking nectar from small flowers."

About the bird. Green chiffchaff songbirds mostly feed on insects, but some also like nectar. On wintering grounds in Central America, they often have bright spots on their faces - this is the result of looking into red and orange flowers. The craving for nectar remains after the flight to the north. In the open forests of Southeastern Canada and the northern states of the United States, inconspicuous gooseberry flowers appear in the spring - just in time for arriving songbirds.

10. Professional Honorable Mention: Gene Putney

• View: sage grouse.
• A place: Jackson County, Colorado.

Snapshot history. “In the spring of 2019, I went to observe the courtship ritual of the sage grouse for the first time. One late afternoon, I set up a camera at the edge of a country road and hid behind a car. This male was the first bird I saw and he turned out to be a great model."

About the bird. After the impressive spring mating dances, the sage grouse seem to dissolve in the vast wormwood steppes of the West. Studies have confirmed that these birds can travel miles and miles as the seasons change, often climbing high ground in summer and descending into plains for the winter, so they need large areas of terrain to survive.