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Eclipse-Frigatebird Photo Wins 2025 Bird Photographer of the Year

The competition drew over 25,000 entries across eight categories, showcasing technical ambition with conservation storytelling.

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Steffen Foerster’s photo of a southern giant petrel, its white feathers stained with blood, won the best portrait category of this year’s Bird Photography of the Year award. The scavenger birds are native to the Southern Ocean, with this photo taken in the Falkland Islands.
"The Giant." Gold Winner, Black and White.
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Overview

  • Canadian photographer Liron Gertsman won for “The Frigatebird and the Diamond Ring,” captured during the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse off Mazatlán after extensive planning and on-water positioning.
  • Judges cited the image’s precise timing during the brief diamond ring phase, recognizing it as the top selection from the Birds in Flight category and the overall winner.
  • Polish photographer Tomasz Michalski earned Young Bird Photographer of the Year for a minimalist black vulture portrait shot in Nicaragua.
  • Category highlights reinforced conservation themes, including “Radiographing,” depicting a rescued common hawk-cuckoo in India, and “Trapped,” showing a shoebill confined in a zoo in Entebbe, Uganda.
  • Winning images are published in a Princeton University Press photo book now available, and entries have opened for the 2026 contest, which also features portfolio and video awards.