The winners of the 2026 Birds of the Year photography competition have been announced, with the top prize going to a stunning image of a diving fish-eating bird in Scottish waters.
This photo was selected from around 24,000 submissions and won a prize of £3,000, equivalent to around $4,000; the bird folds its wings when hunting and enters the water at a speed of around 86 kilometres per hour.
The competition is held in eight main adult categories and several side categories, including nature conservation and a youth section. Organizers said that in the era of the spread of artificial intelligence-generated images, real nature photos are more important to demonstrate the patience and originality of photography, and
