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Entrants can win one of nine prizes in the 2024 contest. For more detail and conditions, please refer to the official contest rules.

1. Grand Prize: $5,000.00 USD 

2. Professional Prize $2,500.00 USD

3. Amateur Prize: $2,500.00 USD

These prizes honor the top photograph across all divisions and in the two categories for entrants 18 years of age and older.

4. Plants for Birds Prize: $2,500 USD

The Plants for Birds prize awards best photo depicting birds and plants native to the area in the United States or Canada in which the image was taken. ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡â€™s Plants for Birds program promotes the use of native plants, which are better for our native birds and provide so much beyond perching or roosting sites. In the ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ Photo Awards Plants for Birds category, we are especially looking for photos that tell a story of birds interacting with native plants—even in unusual ways.

5. Video Prize: $2,500 USD

The Video Prize honors the most compelling footage of birds being birds—foraging, preening, bathing, courting. In this category, we’re looking for interesting behaviors and captivating scenes.

6. Female Bird Prize:  $1,000 USD

The Female Bird Prize is a special commendation awarded to an image depicting a female bird. More elusive and typically less flashy than their male counterparts, female birds are an often overlooked and underappreciated subject of birding and bird photography—and even bird science. We want to help correct that bias by giving them some special attention!

7. Birds in Landscapes: $1,000 USD

The Birds in Landscapes Prize highlights the relationship between birds and the places they live. The setting can be wild, urban, or suburban. The relationship can be symbiotic or highlight a specific challenge birds face. We encourage photographers to take a step back and look at the whole environment, then let the photograph tell the story of how birds connect with their larger surroundings. Birds do not need to be close-up for the photograph to be successful.

8. Fisher Prize: $1,000 USD

The Fisher Prize honors the legacy of ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡'s longtime creative director Kevin Fisher. It recognizes the most creative approach in photographing birds—for example, highlighting an unexpected point of view—blended with technical expertise and an original composition.

9. Youth Prize: Six days at the Hog Island ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ Camp for Teens during the 2025 season

Located off the coast of Maine, Hog Island ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ Camp has been providing nature education in an unforgettable summer experience for generations. The teen session allows enthusiastic young birders to work with some of the country's best-known birders and ornithologists on field identification, bird ecology, and conservation and observe ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡â€™s seabird conservation field research in action. (If the Youth Prize winner will be age 18 at the time of the camp, they may choose another Hog Island ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ Camp session for which they are eligible.)