Announcing the winners of the 2025 BirdLife Australia Photography Awards

Australia’s best bird photography revealed

BirdLife Australia and BirdLife Photography are thrilled to announce the winners of the eighth annual BirdLife Australia Photography Awards.

This year’s competition saw over seven thousand entries from across the country – the highest number of entries in the history of the Awards. After careful consideration, our judges have decided the winners of each of the nine categories from their shortlist.

Showcasing the creative flair and technical skill of some of Australia’s best bird photographers, the winning entries are both a celebration of Australia’s spectacular and diverse birdlife and a powerful statement. We hope they will inspire more people to connect with, care about and protect birds and nature. Congratulations to this year’s winners!

To view the 2025 Winners Gallery, including Runners-up and Highly Commended entries, visit the BirdLife Australia Photography Award website.

A portrait of an Australian Brush-turkey preening its tail feathers. The bright red skin of its head and neck is in stark contrast to its black feathers and the black background. — *Preening one’s feathers* by Angela Farnsworth won both the **Bird Portrait** category and the grand prize for BirdLife Australia Photographer of the Year in this year’s competition.

Turkey takes top prize

Queensland-based photographer Angela Farnsworth was awarded the inaugural grand prize and crowned BirdLife Australia Photographer of the Year for her striking image of an Australian Brush-turkey. Her photo, entitled Preening one’s feathers, is an intimate portrait of one of Australia’s most misunderstood birds.

“This image stood out as these much-maligned birds are often overlooked. The image is perfectly composed, with the dark tones in the feathers never losing detail. It’s refreshing to see a Brush-turkey photographed in a such an endearing way.” – Angela Robertson-Buchanan (Judge)

“People either love or hate them,” Farnsworth says. “I find them to be quite an iconic Australian bird. I think if people took the time to understand what they do and why they do it, they mightn’t be so anti them.”

Upon hearing the news, Farnsworth said she was “floored”.

“I don’t think I slept much last night, this is my first time to have ever gotten anything like this. To actually go as far as this has just knocked my socks off.”

For budding bird photographers, Farnsworth recommends starting small.

“I don’t think you need to look for exotic or rare birds,” she says. “Just look at what’s around and understand their behaviours. I think we so often take for granted what’s in our backyard.”

A grey and white White-bellied Sea-Eagle flies low over the water's surface, wings and talons extended. — *White-bellied thunder* by Howard Loosemore. Winner of the **Special Theme: Diurnal Raptors** category.

Birds win big

Each year, organisers decide on a new Special Theme category to showcase a specific bird group or family. This year’s theme was Diurnal Raptors: a celebration of Australia’s extraordinary birds of prey that are active in the day. The winning image by Howard Loosemore, entitled White-bellied thunder, depicts the power and poise of a White-bellied Sea-Eagle hunting over water.

Other category winners include young conservation hero and Aussie Bird Count Ambassador Spencer Hitchen, who took out the Youth category with his serene portrait of a drinking Glossy Black-Cockatoo, and Donald Chin’s Portfolio Prize-winning photo series of Australian Fairy Terns fighting to survive.

The winners will each receive $1,000 in prize money, thanks to the generous support of our event sponsors Nikon Australia and Lake Cowal Foundation.

To the left of the frame, a drinking female Glossy Black-Cockatoo is reflected in the water's surface. — *I love Glossies* by Spencer Hitchen. Winner of the **Youth** category

To the right of the frame, a black and white adult Australian Fairy Tern is hunched low to the sand, offering a small fish to its hungry chick against a blurred green background. — *Thank you* by Donald Chin. Winner of the **Portfolio Prize** category

The winner of the Portfolio Prize will receive a $2,000 cash prize, while the BirdLife Australia Photographer of the Year will receive the grand prize, a Nikon Z 8 camera valued at $7,449 RRP – both courtesy of principal sponsor, Nikon Australia.

But photographers aren’t the only winners in the competition! Funds raised through entry fees support our bird conservation projects, and together, we raised over $60,000 for BirdLife Australia’s work protecting Australia’s birds and their habitats.

A huge thank you to those who made the 2025 BirdLife Australia Photography Awards competition possible, especially the judges, competition coordinator Graham Cam and our event sponsors, Nikon Australia and Lake Cowal Foundation.

To the left of the frame, a huge Southern Cassowary wades through a creek in a dense green rainforest. — *Rainforest wanderer* by Jake Wilton. Winner of the Birds in the Landscape category

About

The BirdLife Australia Photography Awards are a partnership between BirdLife Australia and BirdLife Photography.

One of BirdLife Australia’s Special Interest Groups, BirdLife Photography welcomes all bird lovers with a passion for photography.

With an extensive public online photo gallery of Australian birds, BirdLife Photography promotes ethical bird photography and aims to inspire and support photographers of Australian birds. For just $15 a year, members can access forums, competitions, e-news and other useful resources to help develop their photography skills.

Find out more and become a BirdLife Photography member today.