GOOD PUP. Young royal terns (Thalasseus maximus), unlike other chicks that become independent after a few weeks, have a long adolescence: parents can feed them for up to eight months, even while the entire family migrates (this American species can move from the United States to the Pacific coasts of South America). Jacobo Giraldo Trejos photographed this young man being “fed” by one of his parents on the island of San Andrés, in Colombia: the adult was fishing, tireless, returning with the fish to the little one he was waiting for. The image of avian parental dedication was among the winners of the various categories of the Audubon Photography Awards 2025, a photographic award organized by the US association for the conservation of birds and their habitats, open to residents of the USA and Canada and from this year also of Chile and Colombia.
Photo: Jacobo Giraldo Trejos/Audubon Photography Awards.
SEAFOOD. The American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), with its unmistakable black and white plumage and orange beak, frequents the coasts of the Americas. Francisco Castro Escobar photographed it on the coast of Antofagasta, a port city in Chile: here, despite urban expansion, various coastal species can still be spotted. In this case, the photographer portrayed the moment when the mother gives a mollusk to her chick. The American oystercatcher feeds on oysters, mussels, clams and other molluscs: the young must learn how to extract them from their shells and are fed by their parents until they become independent.
Photo: Francisco Castro Escobar/Audubon Photography Awards.
PLAYING WITH FIRE. This savannah buzzard (Buteogallus meridionalis) was portrayed by Luis Alberto Peña while he was photographing the birds present in a rural area of Colombia. He found himself in front of a fire, which started from the burning of rice cultivation residues, and before moving away he noticed the buzzard continuing to land not far from the flames, waiting to capture the animals fleeing from the fire. The savannah buzzard is a large bird of prey that can be found in open savannah areas and on the edges of humid areas in America. Being adapted to open environments, it is among the few animals that are able to benefit from the reduction of forest in favor of pastures. It is usually solitary, but several specimens can be found gathered on the edges of areas affected by a fire, hunting for rodents, snakes and other fleeing animals.
Photo: Luis Alberto Peña/Audubon Photography Awards.
TINY. The purple-backed hummingbird (Ramphomicron microrhynchum) has the smallest bill of all hummingbirds. In fact, it feeds on the nectar of small flowers like these, of Gaiadendron punctatum. In the Tropics many species of hummingbirds can coexist in the same environment because they “specialize” in different flowers and this specialization is reflected in the different shapes of the beak: for example, species with a long, curved beak feed on nectar from long, tubular flowers. Christian Valencia photographed this hummingbird in a forest in the Villamaría area of Colombia: to portray the purple-backed buckthorn he approached the flowers that are pollinated by this species and waited patiently for an individual to approach.
Photo: Cristian Valencia/Audubon Photography Awards.
WINGS IN THE NIGHT. The Gannet (Morus bassanus) is a large seabird widespread in the North Atlantic area: for nesting it gathers in large colonies, on remote islands and inaccessible cliffs, where thousands of pairs gather. This colony is located in Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve, Canada. Joe Subolefsky wanted to photograph it with the Milky Way and the starry sky in the background, taking advantage of the rotating light of a lighthouse that highlighted the perched animals every 30 seconds and of a moment in which the sky was clear.
Photo: Joe Subolefsky/Audubon Photography Awards.
DEN AND CONSTRUCTION SITE. The burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) owes its name to the habit of making its nest in burrows abandoned by other animals or by digging underground. Its habitat is the open American expanses, populated by prairie dogs (which despite their name are rodents of the marmot family), which dig large networks of burrows. But the expansion of cultivated fields and the decline of prairie dogs has reduced the habitat and population of this owl. Jean Hall photographed this specimen standing on wood on a construction site in Marco Island, Florida, where the open spaces have been almost completely occupied by buildings.
Photo: Jean Hall/Audubon Photography Awards.
CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL. The Brandt’s cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) is a seabird of the Pacific coasts of North America. Barbara Swanson photographed it with seaweed in its beak in the sea in La Jolla, California, in January, while the pairs were building nests.
These cormorants use plant material for nests: algae, grasses and various plants from humid inland areas, as well as feathers and various materials. It is mainly the male who takes care of the harvesting, even if both partners then get busy with the construction.
Photo: Barbara Swanson/Audubon Photography Awards.
DAWN HUNT. The long-eared owl (Asio otus) is widespread from North America to Eurasia: it hunts in open environments, flying low over the ground to listen to the movements of rodents. Parham Pourahmad photographed him at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont, California, watching him hunt through meadows and marshy areas before sunrise. At dawn, when the swamp environment took on these colors, he took the photo.
Parham Pourahmad/Audubon Photography Awards.
