Bird Photographer of the Year Competition Announces Winners: 4,000 Dead Birds Take First Place
The Bird Photographer of the Year photo award has announced this year's winners, who were chosen from among the authors of more than 23,000 images.
This is reported on the award website.
The winner was photojournalist Patricia Gomonilo, who photographed 4,000 dead birds that died as a result of a collision with windows in Toronto, Canada.
Her photo also won the Conservation category, which is designed to tell the story of efforts to protect a particular species.
The author of the winning photo tried to draw attention to the massive deaths of birds, which often confuse reflective surfaces, such as windows, with an extension of the landscape. As a result, animals can crash into glass at full speed and die.
‘Every year, more than one billion birds are killed in North America alone due to collisions with windows. I'm a conservation photojournalist and work with the Fatal Light Awareness Programme, where we rescue window collision survivors in Toronto.
Unfortunately, most of the birds we find are already dead. They are collected and at the end of the year we create this striking display to honour the lives lost and raise awareness,’ Patricia Homonilo told about her work.
The Best Portfolio category was won by Bence Mate, a Hungarian who submitted photographs of local birds. In addition, he complemented the photos with creative use of the latest technologies.
‘Curiosity, harmony, the struggle for survival and incredible moments are all part of the natural world, and I always enjoy watching these intimate and eventful species.
I created this portfolio of local wetland birds to tell their stories and highlight the moments in their lives,’ said Mathe.
The jury recognised Malcolm Boothroyd's video as the winner of the video award.
Alan Murphy from the United States, who won the Portrait Award, captured the bird's character and distinctive features in the best way.
Among the images of birds in the environment, the best was chosen by Kat Zhou from the United States, with Levi Fitze from Switzerland taking second place. The bronze medal went to Jonas Baer from Denmark.
Hermis Haridas from India won the Birds in Flight category, which celebrates bird dominance in the sky.
The organisers of the photo award also recognised authors who took pictures of birds in cities.
‘In a world that is becoming increasingly urbanised, many birds are forced to live at people's doorsteps. This category explores the world of urban bird photography,’ the competition website said.
The nomination was awarded gold to the work of Polish photographer Grzegorz Długosz, whose photo shows a feathered family crossing a road filled with cars and people.
Among the photographs that capture funny moments in nature, the best was taken by American Nadia Hack. It was followed by Robert Glockner from the USA and Gary Collier from the UK.
Bird Photographer of the Year is the leading annual bird photography competition. The organisers of the photo award select the best bird photographs in the world and provide financial rewards to their authors.
As The Gaze previously reported, the Natural Landscape Photography Award has selected the winners of the 2024 landscape competition.