From Audubon Florida
In Summary:
Florida birds and photographers earned national recognition in the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards. Jacqueline Burke won the Grand Prize for her Roseate Spoonbill photograph, while Peter Brannon and Xiao Hu received honorable mentions. Audubon has studied Roseate Spoonbills and their Florida habitat since establishing its Everglades Research Station in 1939.
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Today, the National Audubon Society announced the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards, including two photographs that capture bird life in Florida. Now in its seventeenth year, the awards showcase stunning photos and videos that celebrate the beauty and joy of birds while helping to tell the story of hemispheric bird conservation. For the second year, judges awarded prizes to residents of Chile and Colombia as well as the United States and Canada, highlighting how birds connect people across geographies and ecosystems.
Related: Florida photographer helps identify flamingo banded in Mexico.
Florida Winners
Jacqueline Burke won a Grand Prize for her photograph of a Roseate Spoonbill at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine, FL. As a Grand Prize winner, Burke received $5,000 and a voyage to Antarctica with HX Expeditions. Peter Brannon received an Honorable Mention in the Female Bird category for his photograph of a Common Nighthawk in Tampa, FL, and Xiao Hu of Gainesville, FL received an Honorable Mention for his Barred Owl video recorded in Virginia.
“Audubon Florida is thrilled to see such an iconic Florida bird, the Roseate Spoonbill, featured in a grand prize-winning photo,” says Julie Wraithmell, Executive Director, Audubon Florida. “Congratulations to Jacqueline Burke for winning the grand prize in the U.S. and Canada, and also to Florida residents Peter Brannon and Xiao Hu for their honorable mentions in this year’s Audubon Photography Awards.”
The Audubon Everglades Research Station (ERS) was established in the Florida Keys in 1939 by the National Audubon Society's first director of research, Robert Porter Allen. Allen began a full-time study of the Roseate Spoonbill, living among them in a tent for weeks at a time. At the time, scientists would typically study birds’ eating habits by killing them and examining their stomach contents. However, the spoonbill was so scarce that Allen had to find another way to study it. His research changed how scientists studied birds and left a legacy of more than 85 years of data investigating the spoonbill and its habitat.
Today, ERS researchers continue to study the behavior and nesting success of the iconic spoonbill, as well as the flow of fresh water into Florida Bay and the impacts that the diversion of water has had throughout the Everglades ecosystem.
Winners are published online in Audubon magazine and will be featured in the Fall 2026 print issue. Audubon will announce the annual Top 100 photos on September 23, 2026, and feature additional selections in digital galleries on Audubon's website.
The 2027 Audubon Photography Awards will open for entries on January 13, 2027. Visit Audubon's website for details on the Chile and Colombia and U.S. and Canada contests. The winners and honorable mentions are published online in Audubon magazine, and winners will be featured in the Fall 2026 print issue.
Key Points:
- Jacqueline Burke won the Grand Prize for a Roseate Spoonbill photograph taken in St. Augustine.
- Burke received $5,000 and an Antarctic voyage with HX Expeditions.
- Peter Brannon earned an honorable mention for a Common Nighthawk photographed in Tampa.
- Gainesville resident Xiao Hu received an honorable mention for a Barred Owl video recorded in Virginia.
- The winning images will appear in the fall 2026 print issue of Audubon magazine.
Audubon is a leading nonprofit conservation organization with 125 years of Florida science-based, community-driven impact, dedicated to protecting birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Birds are powerful indicators of our planet’s health, acting as sentinels that warn us of environmental change and inspire action. Audubon works across the Western Hemisphere, driven by the understanding that what is good for birds is good for the planet. Through a collaborative, bipartisan approach across habitats, borders, and the political spectrum, Audubon drives meaningful and lasting conservation outcomes. With 800 staff and over 1.9 million supporters, Audubon is a dynamic and ever-growing force committed to ensuring a better planet for both birds and people for generations to come. Learn more at audubon.org/florida.
