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Mating, murder, and parenting: The complex lives of birds on display in 2024 Audubon Photography Awards

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A Barred Owl hangs upside down from a thin tree branch, its body horizontal, its face turned and looking at the camera. Above it hangs a squirrel on a branch. Its head is nearly completely severed and is held in the owl’s talons. Its fur is bloodied.

A barred owl holds a decapitated squirrel in its talons, while a red-necked grebe chick eagerly eats a meal of fish from its parent. Hundreds of grackles gather on power lines at sunset in Texas.

The captivating behaviors of birds are showcased in stunning detail by the winners of the 2024 Audubon Photography Awards. Selected from 8,500 submissions, this year’s winners were awarded in nine categories, including Youth, Amateur, Plants For Birds, and the new Birds in Landscapes category.

Mathew Malwitz, a photographer, received the Grand Winner prize for his photo (shown below) of quarreling blackburnian warblers captured at Promised Land State Park in Greentown, Pennsylvania.

“While out for a walk, I had been following the song of a Magnolia Warbler along a trail when two quarreling Blackburnian Warblers dropped from the trees above,” Malwitz said. “They landed a few feet in front of me, prompting me to carefully step back. They remained motionless, and I worried that the fall had injured them, but a moment later they began battling again. Once I realized the pair were too busy to notice me, I slowly dropped to the ground at their level to get a better look into their world. I adjusted my settings for action and snapped as they fought. The scene lasted a few minutes before they let each other go and returned to the canopy.”

Two blackburnian warblers square off, their bills and feet entangled. Photo: Mathew Malwitz/Audubon Photography Awards/2024 Grand Prize Winner

A Forster’s Tern is in the air, its head turned almost 180 degrees so that its bill is pointing almost straight up, and its tail is twisted. The bird’s outstretched wings give the impression the bird is floating upside down. Water droplets appear in a stream from the bird’s bill and also below it.
A forster’s tern twists its head in the air. Photo: Kevin Lohman/Audubon Photography Awards/2024 Professional Honorable Mention
An American Kestrel stands on a post in profile, and a male kestrel is on her back with his wings stretched behind him. The birds are both in profile facing the left of the frame, the male above appearing to be an extension of the female below.
Linda Scher/Audubon Photography Awards/2024 Plants For Birds Winner

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