Northern Gannet "Sunball Rocket" Wins Bird Photographer of the Year 2026

A northern gannet erupting through the ocean surface in Scottish waters is now the most celebrated bird photo on the planet. Henry Spiers from the UK won the grand prize at Bird Photographer of the Year 2026 for his image“Sunball Rocket,”which also took the Birds in the Environment category. The competition drew more than 24,000 submissions from photographers worldwide, and the win came with a £3,000 prize.

The youth category delivered its own showstopper. Sixteen-year-old Parham Pourahmad from the US won Young Bird Photographer of the Year for“Moonlit Night,”a great horned owl framed against the full moon. He found the owls nesting in a park next to his house, proving you don’t need an exotic location to capture something extraordinary.

Conservation sits at the heart of the competition, which donated over £5,000 to partner charity Birds on the Brink to fund grassroots bird protection projects globally. If this inspires you to grab your camera, entries for next year’s competition are already open at birdpoty.com. So, what’s the most incredible bird you’ve ever spotted in real life?