2023 Bird Photographer of the Year

Bird Photographer of the Year is the leading bird photography competition. We celebrate the world’s best bird photography, whilst supporting conservation efforts through imagery and financial support.

The Overall Winner of the competition takes home a £5,000 cash prize, alongside the coveted title of Bird Photographer of the Year.

> COMPETITION DATES <

9th September ‘22

The BPOTY 2023 competition opens for entries.

11th December ‘22

The competition closes to entries and judging begins.

End of Summer / Autumn ‘23

Winners are announced.

Bird Photographer of the Year categories

Here you can find the selection of categories and awards available to enter in the Bird Photographer of the Year competition. For prizes, see this page.

Competition categories

Best Portrait

An image that best captures the character of the subject bird and its distinctive features. We are looking for images that include lots of detail, captured in a classic pose or showing the animal’s features.

Birds in the Environment

This category focuses on photos that best demonstrate the relationship between a bird and its habitat. Examples include a swan on a lake at dawn, a dipper on a rock beside a waterfall, or a bald eagle flying through the mountains.

Bird Behaviour

We’re looking for images that best depict a behaviour of a bird. This might be the lekking display of a black grouse, the courtship of a great crested grebe, or a singing robin.

Birds in Flight

Celebrating avian mastery of the sky, this category focuses on birds in flight. Whether you’re freezing the action or using creative motion blur, as long as your subject is on the wing then it can be entered here.

Black and White

Introduce simplicity and drama into your shot through the use of black and white imagery. This can be shot in-camera or converted during post production.

Urban Birds

In an increasingly urban world, many birds are forced to live on the doorsteps of humans. This category explores the world of urban bird photography. Images should show birds alongside man-made objects, buildings, and other urban settings.

Comedy Bird Photo

We want to see those funny moments in nature. This category looks for hilarious bird moments that are asking for a funny caption!

Conservation (Single Image)

This category looks for strong conservation stories shown in one image. This is separate to the main Conservation Award which looks at a collection of photos together.

Portfolio Award

For this award, you can enter up to 6 images as a collection. Judges will be looking for a selection of images that show extensive technical control and creativity of the photographer.

Video Award

For this award, you are invited to submit a 2-5 minute video of which the subject matter is birds. Judges will be looking for good sequences of shots, rather than a collection of standalone clips. The focus here is strong cinematography and camera skills, although having a story and strong narrative is a bonus.

Note:This award is open to videographers with 3 or fewer major broadcast credits (national or international broadcast). You must be aged 18 or more to enter this award.

Conservation Award

Enter up to 6 images as a collection that tell a conservation story. Judges will be looking for images that tell a story of conservation efforts or the struggle of a particular species. Images can be entered alongside text.

Young Bird Photographer of the Year

Young BPOTY

The Young Bird Photographer of the Year will be awarded to one of the winners of the 3 age groups (11 and Under, 12-14 years, 15-17 years).

The youth competition is free to enter, and you can submit up to 10 images.

The Judges

Take a look at our wonderful panel of judges. This team will be sifting through all of the entries to determine who will be crowned the Bird Photographer of the Year 2023.

Majed Al Za’abi Kuwait Majed is a multi award-winning photographer and a Nikon Ambassador. In 2020, he was the grand prize winner of Bird Photographer of the Year.	Denise Ippolito United States of America Denise is an award-winning photographer living in New Jersey, USA. Through her photography, she hopes to broaden awareness and inspire others to share her love for animals, the planet, and its resources.	David Lindo United Kingdom David Lindo is The Urban Birder – broadcaster, writer, speaker, educator and bird tour leader. His mission is to engage city folk around the world with the environment through birds.
Erin Ranney United States of America Erin is a wildlife camerawoman based in Alaska and Washington State. She has filmed for BBC, PBS, Smithsonian, National Geographic, amongst other major broadcasters.	Jamie McPherson United Kingdom With over 22 years experience as a wildlife cameraman, Jamie has won multiple EMMYs and BAFTAs for his work filming on major landmark nature documentaries (Netflix, Disney, BBC, and more).	Li Ying Lou China / Canada Li Ying is a photographer from China. She has been awarded multiple prizes in bird photography, captured images in 22 countries, and is a spokesperson for a Chinese wildlife conservation organisation. She is currently living in Canada.
Hans Ngoteya Tanzania Hans is a National Geographic Explorer, conservationist, and wildlife story-teller. His goal is to help communities co-exist with wildlife through his images and films.	Andrew Cleave MBE United Kingdom Andrew, a biology teacher by training, is one of the founders of BPOTY, author and contributor to over 30 books on a wide range of natural history topics, and a busy wildlife tour leader in the UK and further afield. Andrew was appointed MBE for services to Environmental Education in 1995.	Myles Archibald United Kingdom Originally trained as a zoologist, Myles is the Publishing Director at Harper Collins where he has worked since 1987. Myles is responsible for science, outdoor, and nature titles – including the Bird Photographer of the Yearcollections.
Paul Sterry United Kingdom Paul is a best-selling author of photographically-illustrated wildlife field guides. A passion for bird photography led to him to found BPOTY and he continues to promote the competition’s conservation-orientated vison through its supportive relationship with the charity Birds on the Brink.	Will Nicholls United Kingdom Will is the Director of Bird POTY. He is a wildlife cameraman working in natural history television, with credits for BBC, AppleTV, Netflix, Disney+, and more. He specialises in working at height in the forest canopy. He has also been a stills photographer since 2007.

Competition prizes

There are plenty of prizes to be won this year. The Grand Prize Winner of the competition will take home a massive £5,000 cash prize, as well as the coveted title of Bird Photographer of the Year. There will also be prizes for Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards within each category.

Let’s take a look at the prize fund.

Grand prize: Bird Photographer of the Year

Chosen from our category gold awards, the Grand Prize Winner will be awarded a £5,000 cash prize.

Gold award

In all 8 main categories, our 1st place winner will take home a £750 cash prize.

Silver award

In all 8 main categories, our 2nd place winner will take home a Tilopa bag with the Essentials Pack upgrade from F-stop Gear (worth £360).

Bronze award

In all 8 main categories, our 3rd place winner will win a £100 voucher for camera equipment.

Portfolio award

The winner of our Portfolio award will win a camera package from Olympus. This OM-1 body in black, and an M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm PRO II lens. (Worth £2,499.99).

Conservation award

The winner of our Conservation award will be awarded a £750 cash prize.

Video award

The winner of our Video award will be awarded a £750 cash prize.

Young Bird Photographer of the Year

There are 3 categories for this competition (8 and Under, 9-13 years, 14-17 years). The winner of each category will win a £100 voucher for camera equipment.

The winner of the Young Bird Photographer of the Year will be chosen from these category winners, and will take home another £200 voucher for their local camera store.

Video Award

Video Award – Important information

Bird Photographer of the Yearwill now celebrate both photography and videography, with the addition of a brand new Video Award.

Read below for some important information about how this award will work.

Who is eligible to enter this award?

This award was created with the aim of supporting and celebrating upcoming cinematographers. With that in mind, there are some restrictions on who is eligible to enter.

The Video Award is open to those ages 18 years old or more, and who have 3 or fewer major broadcast credits. We are classifying this as a production credit with a national or international broadcaster or streaming service where you are credited as either a first or second camera operator. Camera assistant roles that do not have a large shooting component will not count towards this quota.

Entry specifications

The Video Award costs 6 entry credits to enter. There are some important specifications to ensure you adhere to for your submission:

• Your entry must be no more than 5 minutes long;
• All clips used in your video must be your own, and you must own the copyright to this footage. If your submission contains footage that is owned by a third-party, your entry will be disqualified;
• You may use any of the following tracksfor use in your competition entry only. These are not to be used outside of the BPOTY competition.
• You may purchase and use royalty-free music of your own choice for your submission. Rights-managed licenses are not permitted. We will require you to submit a copy of your license if you are successful.

A successful submission will:

• Form a strong sequence, rather than be a collection of unrelated clips;
• Focus on cinematography and video skills (having a story is a bonus, and should be in addition to good camera skills). Featuring as an on-screen presenter is acceptable, but the focus should be on video skills.

Some guidelines for producing your video, but not essential for success, are:

• Shoot in at least 1080p resolution;
• Shoot with a base rate of 23.98, 25, or 29.98 fps.

The following competition rules (‘the Rules’) constitute the terms and conditions of the Bird Photographer of the Year competition (‘the Competition’). By submitting an entry to the Competition, you are agreeing to be bound by the following Rules:

1. The Competition
   1. The Competition is owned and operated by Bird Photographer of the Year Limited(company number 06542451).
   2. The Competition is comprised of both an adult competition (the ‘Adult Competition’), and a youth competition (the ‘Youth Competition’).
   3. The Adult Competition is open to individuals that are aged 18 years or above on the 11th December 2022.
   4. The Youth Competition is open to individuals that are aged 17 years or below on the 11th December 2022.
   5. The Competition is sponsored by:
      • f-stop LLC;
      • Olympus;
      • together, the ‘Competition Sponsors’.
   6. All communication in regards to the Competition should be made via email to: info@birdpoty.com
2. Entry into the Competition
   1. Entries must be received by 23:59 BST on the 11th December 2022 (the ‘Closing Date’).
   2. Individuals (and their partners and family members) involved in the organisation or running of the Competition, including any Competition Sponsors or Judges (as defined below), are not permitted to enter the Competition.
   3. By submitting an entry to the Competition, you agree:
      • not to do or say anything that damages, or may damage, the reputation of Bird Photographer of the Year or the Competition Sponsors;
      • that you have read and understand the Rules;
      • that any entry you submit complies with the Rules; and
      • to accept all liability for any loss or damage caused to, or incurred by, Bird Photographer of the Year and its licensees as a result of your breach of the Rules.
   4. Images are not permitted to be entered into the Competition that:
      • have required the use of live bait;
      • feature domesticated animals;
      • feature captive or restrained animals, animal models, and/or any animal being exploited for profit unless for the purposes of reporting on a conservation story;
      • do not adhere to the ethics in Section 4; and
      • were taken before 1st January 2017.
   5. Any entry found not to comply with the Rules (at any stage of the Competition, including after the announcement of the winners) may be disqualified from the Competition at the sole discretion of Bird Photographer of the Year. In such a case, no refunds will be made and the decision of Bird Photographer of the Year on all matters relating to the Competition is final and binding on you.
   6. If any entrant to the Competition is chosen as a winner but is subsequently disqualified for a breach of the Rules after any prizes have been awarded, the relevant entrant is required to return such prize(s) to Bird Photographer of the Year within 30 days of receiving notice of such disqualification. For the avoidance of doubt, notice under this condition 2.6 will deemed to have been received if sent by any electronic communication, on the next day after transmission.
   7. At any stage of the Competition, Bird Photographer of the Year may, acting in its sole discretion, amend the Rules and/or waive a breach of the Rules.
3. Submitting an Entry to the Competition
   1. Entry into the Competition is only accepted via the website at enter.birdpoty.comand not via e-mail, post, or any other means.
   2. Entry into the Adult Competition requires entry credits (‘Entry Credits’), which are charged for at a rate of £6 for 1 entry, £15 for 5 entries, £25 for 10 entries, £40 for 20 entries, £50 for 30 entries, or £60 for 50 entries. Entrants may buy further Entry Credits at their own discretion.
   3. There is no limit on the number of entries you may submit to the Competition.
   4. Entries must be submitted by the Closing Date. Any Entry Credits not used by the Closing Date will not be refunded.
   5. Each entry in the Adult Competition may be submitted to one of the following categories:
      • Best Portrait;
      • Birds in the Environment;
      • Bird Behaviour;
      • Birds in Flight;
      • Black and White;
      • Urban Birds;
      • Conservation (Single Image);
      • Comedy Bird Photo;
      • Conservation Award;
      • Portfolio Award; or
      • Video Award.
   6. It is your responsibility to ensure that your entry fits the description of the relevant category to which you submit your entry.
   7. Entries in the Youth Competition do not require the purchase of Entry Credits.
4. Ethics and Conduct
   1. Without exception, you are expected to adhere to the following code of ethics in this condition 4. Any breach of these ethics will be deemed to be a breach of the Rules and may result in you being disqualified from the Competition.
   2. Entries must not deceive the viewer and/or misrepresent the reality of the natural world. Caption information must also be correct, accurate, and true.
   3. Entrants must not:
      • injure, distress, or damage an animal for the purposes of photography; and/or
      • intentionally disturb or spook an animal, including by using a drone and/or other aircraft; and/or
      • use tape lures or decoys to attract or elicit a behaviour from an animal.
   4. The practice of ‘live baiting’ is strictly prohibited. For the purposes of these Rules, live baiting means providing a live animal as a prey item for the purposes of attracting, or eliciting any other display of behaviour from, another animal. Other means of luring animals, including using bird seed, must be declared in the caption of your entry.
   5. Working closely at the nest site of a bird (such as with a wide-angle lens and/or with flash photography) is discouraged, but permitted should the necessary permissions be detailed in the image caption and provided to the Competition on request. What is deemed suitable permission will be determined by Bird Photographer of the Year on a case by case basis.
   6. If working with a protected species, the necessary permissions must be detailed in the image caption and provided to the Competition on request. What is deemed suitable permission will be determined by Bird Photographer of the Year on a case by case basis.
   7. Bird Photographer of the Year reserves the right to disqualify any entry where it suspects either full disclosure has not been made or where the methods employed by the Entrant are judged to breach the ethical code of conduct shown in Section 4. It is the responsibility of the Entrant to ensure that the relevant permissions have been obtained when photographing on private land.
5. Image Specifications
   1. Entries must be submitted in JPEG (or JPG) format.
   2. Entrants that are shortlisted for the final round of judging will be required to provide:
      • raw format files (such as .NEF, .CR2 etc) or, if unavailable, original untouched JPEGs for authentication and forensic purposes. DNG files are not permitted unless this is the native raw output of your camera;
      • full, high resolution files of the final image;
      • an extended caption description; and
      • if required by Bird Photographer of the Year for authentication, a range of images taken before and after the particular image in question.
   3. If an entry is unable to be authenticated by Bird Photographer of the Year, or is not of a sufficient quality (to be determined by Bird Photographer of the Year acting in its sole discretion), it will be disqualified from the Competition.
   4. Post processing of images is acceptable, provided such processing is not for the purposes of deceiving the viewer and/or misrepresenting nature.
   5. With the exception of HDR, stitched panoramas, focus stacking, and in-camera multiple exposures, composited images are not permitted in any category. Sky swapping or removal of objects through cloning, for example, is not permitted.
   6. In the Video Award, entries must be no more than 5 minutes in length and contain only video files that the Entrant owns the sole copyright to.
6. Judging Process and Prizes
   1. Bird Photographer of the Year will appoint the judges of the Competition (the ‘Judges’).
   2. The Judges will judge the submissions to the Competition and, in respect of each category, will choose from the submissions:
      • the winners (the ‘Category Winners’); and
      • the highly commended entries (the ‘Highly Commended Entries’).
   3. The judges will choose a shortlist of entries from which they wish to see further high resolution files. These must be supplied by the given deadline, or may be disqualified.
   4. The overall winner of the Competition (the ‘Overall Winner’) will be chosen by the Judges from the Category Winners.
   5. All Category Winners and the Overall Winner will treat any communication received from the Judges and/or Bird Photographer of the Year as confidential. Category Winners and/or the Overall Winner agree(s) not to disclose any communication received from the Judges and/or Bird Photographer of the Year regarding the Competition until such date that an official announcement of the winners has been made by Bird Photographer of the Year.
7. Publicity
   1. All entrants awarded as Category Winners or Highly Commended Entries in the Competition agree that their name and likeness, and relevant submission to the Competition can be used, without any compensation, for the purpose of advertising, promoting, and/or publicising the Competition.
8. Intellectual Property Rights
   1. By entering the Competition, you warrant, represent and hereby agree that any entry you submit:
      • is your original work; and
      • does not infringe on any intellectual property right of any other individual or person.
   2. You must be the sole owner of the copyright of all submissions to the Competition.
   3. Bird Photographer of the Year does not claim any rights of ownership in any of your submissions to the Competition.
   4. You agree that the Bird Photographer of the Year may, but is not required to, make your entry available on its website and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, in connection with any publicity and/or judging of the Competition.
   5. You agree to grant Bird Photographer of the Year a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable licence, for the full period of any intellectual property rights (including all moral rights) in the Competition entry and any accompanying materials, to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sub-licence the Competition entry and any accompanying materials for any purpose connected with the Competition, including (but not limited to), promoting the Competition within printed and online media, the inclusion within printed and digital versions of the Competition book, the inclusion within printed and digital versions of the Competition calendar and other merchandise, display at exhibitions, use in press, promotional and marketing materials, social media networks and for the promotion of any future photographic competition in both print and online media. All images will be credited to the photographer where used.
9. Liability
   1. Proof of electronic submission to the Competition is not proof of receipt of such submission by Bird Photographer of the Year.
   2. Without prejudice to any other terms and conditions of these Rules, insofar as is permitted by law, Bird Photographer of the Year, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss or damage occurring as a result of taking up the Competition prize. Your statutory rights are not affected.
   3. Bird Photographer of the Year is not responsible for any emails or other forms of electronic communication that do not arrive. You must ensure that your email settings and spam filters accept emails from info@birdpoty.com, and all other @birdpoty.com addresses.
   4. Bird Photographer of the Year does not accept liability for the misuse of images and/or the failure of any third party to comply with the sub-license granted pursuant to condition 8.5.
   5. Any third-party use, as outlined in Section 8, will be required to adhere to the same license granted to Bird Photographer of the Year. Bird Photographer of the Year is not liable for any violations of this license, and such instances are to be settled between the Entrant and the third party without the inclusion of Bird Photographer of the Year in the matter

FAQ

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions that the competition receives. If your question is not answered here, you can always get in touch with us. However, please read through our FAQ before sending a message to the team.

What are the size requirements for entering an image?

Please upload images at a maximum of 2000px longest side, 2MB maximum file size, and JPEG format. We have no colour space requirements, but typically sRGB is a good choice. There is no minimum pixel dimension required, but you should aim for at least 1600px for optimum viewing. The DPI you submit in at this stage does not matter, but 72 DPI is a good setting to choose.

When will the winners be announced for the 2023 competition?

Winners will be announced towards Autumn 2023, alongside the publication of Collection 8.

Does it cost to enter the competition?

The Youth contest is free, but the adult competition carries an entry fee. To enter, you will need to use entry credits. 1 credit is equal to 1 photo submission. For our special awards (Video, Portfolio, Conservation) you will need 6 credits to enter.

How do I compress a raw photo into a zip folder?

If invited to submit your photos to the high resolution file request, please zip all raw files into a zip folder. To do this on Mac, right click the file in Finder and select “Compress”. For Windows, right click the file and select “Send to > Compressed (zip) folder”.

You can then upload the new zip folder to the website.

What information should I include in my caption?

Captions should be as detailed as possible and include information about the image such as: the story, how you got the shot, any special techniques needed, and (where applicable) any required permissions obtained for taking the photo.

Can I submit the same photo into multiple categories?

Yes, you can do this if you wish. You can also enter photos that are submitted to the Portfolio Award into other categories.

Can I watermark my photos and submit them?

We ask you to upload images that are not watermarked, as it is better for the judging process. Should you be successful, we require original files and high resolution, unwatermarked images anyway.

Can I enter photos that are entered into, or awarded, in other competitions?

Yes, this year there is no requirement for images to be solely for Bird POTY. However, images that have yet to have major competition coverage stand the greatest chance of creating an impact with the judges since they will not have seen them before.

I can only enter the youth competition, and can’t find the adult contest?

This happens if you have accidentally registered for the Youth contest. Please login and hover over your name in the top right of the screen. Navigate to “My Profile” and follow the prompts to covert your account to the adult competition.

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