The Image Of The Running Cuckoo In Front Of The US-Mexico Border Wall Won The Best Bird Photo Of 2021
In This Year’s Bird Photographer Of The Year Contest, The Grand Prize was awarded to a photo of a running cuckoo that could not continue its path when facing the US-Mexico Border Wall.
Bird Photographer of the Year is a global photography competition designed to celebrate the beauty and diversity of birds. Contestants compete for a grand prize of £5,000 (about $6,895) and other prizes, including Olympus camera equipment and Swarovski Optics binoculars. This contest is open to residents of any region and participants of any age.
There are eight categories to enter, and the competition is open to anyone wishing to submit an image to an extensive portfolio.
This year, a Mexican photographer named Alejandro Prieto won first place for his photo of a running cuckoo that could not continue its path when confronted by the US-Mexico border wall.
This photo was announced as the winner of the “Birds in the Environment” and the Grand Prize categories.
Name of the work: Blocked- Photographer name: Alejandro Prieto
- Photographer’s country: Mexico
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70–200mm f/2.8 lens
- Photo details: focal length 112mm, 1/320s, ISO 200, f/14
The 3,000 km border between the United States and Mexico passes through some of the most biologically diverse areas on the continent. This place is home to unique mammals, reptiles, birds, and plants, some of which cannot be found anywhere else on earth.
The US government’s decision to build a wall along its border with Mexico will affect many species of animals. Border infrastructure not only physically blocks the movement of wildlife but also destroys and fragments habitats. The presence of a wall disrupts the habitat of many nomadic desert animals and prevents them from moving freely from one place to another. In this photo, a running cuckoo looks confused after approaching the border wall in Naco, Arizona.
The border wall passes through deserts, mountains, and even mangroves. Prieto says:
This border area is not just a desert and has a lot of biodiversities. The wall has threatened more than 1,500 animal and plant species. I have watched various animals turn back after reaching the border.
Bird Photographer of the Year Contest says:
The border wall is considered a threat to this region’s biodiversity by fragmenting the creatures’ habitat. This fence physically
It blocks critical migration routes for animals such as longhorn sheep, pronghorn, black bear, bison, and jaguar.
This organization further adds:
Because this photo is not just an ordinary picture of a bird, but a picture with a strong story behind it, narrates the tragic and disturbing, it has been chosen as the winner. In this work, the running cuckoo looks vulnerable in the face of the big border wall that dominates the photo frame.
Below you can see other winning pictures of this event.
The best portraits
- gold winner
- Name of the work: Underwater portrait
- Photographer’s name: Filipe Funkava
- Country of the photographer: Spain
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with Canon 8–15mm f/4
- Silver winner
- Name of the work: Sing from the bottom of your heart
- Photographer’s name: Maofeng Shen
- Photographer’s country: China
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with Canon 600mm f/4 lens
- Bronze winner
- Name of the work: Night hunter
- Name of the photographer: Jonas Klason
- Photographer’s country: Sweden
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with Canon 200–400mm f/4 lens
Birds in the environment
- Silver winner
- Name of the work: The forest claimant
- Photographer’s name: Ja Sheva Galecki
- Country of photographer: United States of America
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS-1D X Mark III with Canon 24-70mm f/4 lens
- Bronze winner
- Name of the work: Yellow-tipped tick eater with African buffalo
- Photographer’s name: Barbara Fleming
- Country of photographer: United States of America
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon D4S with Nikkor 500mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter
Attention to detail
- Bronze winner
- Name of the work: Disappearance
- Name of the photographer: Rafael Armada
- Country of the photographer: Spain
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with Canon EF 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6 II lens
- Silver winner
- Name of the work: Growing up
- Name of the photographer: Raymond Hennessy
- Country of photographer: United States of America
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon D4S with Nikkor 500mm f/4 lens
- Bronze winner
- Name of the work: Blue Flames
- Photographer’s name: Kerry Wu
- Country of photographer: United States of America
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS 7D II with Canon 100mm f/4.5–5.6 II lens
Bird behavior
- gold winner
- Name of the work: Flower bathtub
- Name of the photographer: Musam Ray
- Photographer’s country: India
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon D500 with Nikkor 300mm f/4 and 1.4x teleconverter
- Silver winner
- Name of the work: Face of Death
- Photographer’s name: Massimiliano Apollo
- Country of the photographer: Italy
- Camera and photography equipment: Sony A9 II with Canon 600mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter
- Bronze winner
- Name of the work: Tangled
- Photographer name: Julie Holliday
- Falkland Islands
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark III with Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 II lens and 2X converter
Birds in flight
- gold winner
- Name of the work: Thirsty
- Photographer’s name: Zahi Finkelstein
- Photographer’s country: Israel
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon D500 with Nikkor 300mm f/4 PF lens
- Silver winner
- Name of the work: The Art of Movement
- Name of the photographer: Nicholas Rosens
- Country of the photographer: Spain
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon R6 with Laowa 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens
- Bronze winner
- Name of the work: Mill, in turn
- Photographer’s name: Hans Lachner
- Country of the photographer: South Africa
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70–200mm f/2.8 lens
black and white
- gold winner
- Name of the work: Penguin Rishkhati
- Photographer name: Renato Granier
- Photographer’s country: England
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon D4S with Nikkor 80–400mm f/4.5–5.6 lens
- Silver winner
- Name of the work: Noor Parha
- Photographer’s name: James Rogerson
- Photographer’s country: England
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS-1D X with Canon 500mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter
- Bronze winner
- Name of the work: On Burton Rocks
- Photographer’s name: Natalie Shanto
- Country of the photographer: France
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200–500mm f/5.6 lens
Urban birds
- Silver winner
- Name of the work: Quarantine
- Photographer’s name: William Steele
- Country of the photographer: South Africa
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS 6D with Sigma 120–300mm f/2.8 Sport lens
- gold winner
- Name of the work: Underwear on a shopping cart
- Photographer’s name: Terry Whittaker
- Country of the photographer: United Kingdom
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 16–35mm f/4 lens
- Bronze winner
- Name of the work: Guardians
- Photographer name: Paolo Crocetta
- Country of the photographer: Italy
- Camera and photography equipment: Nikon D300 with Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens
Creative illustration
- gold winner
- Name of the work: Bread and fish
- Photographer’s name: Rudiger Schulz
- Country of the photographer: Germany
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with Sigma 150–600mm f/5–6.3 sports lens and 1.4x teleconverter
- Silver winner
- Name of the work: Gif
- Photographer’s name: Catherine Cooper
- Country of the photographer: United Kingdom
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with Canon 24–105mm f/4 lens
- Bronze winner
- Name of the work: Derna, train, and car
- Photographer’s name: Ruth Hughes
- Country of the photographer: United Kingdom
- Camera and photography equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark III with Canon 24–70mm f/2.8 II lens
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