Winners of the 2021 Bird Photographer of the Year awards were announced today. Over 22,000 images were submitted from around the globe. Mexican photographer Alejandro Prieto took home the £5,000 grand prize for his image of a roadrunner standing next to the 3,000km-long US–Mexico border.
‘The border wall crosses deserts, mountains, and even mangroves. It is not just desert, and is in fact very biodiverse with more than 1,500 animal and plants species threatened by the wall,’ says Prieto. ‘I have watched many different animals reach the wall before turning around and heading back.’
The Bird Photographer of the Year awards also gives back. The organization donated £8,000 to Birds on the Brink. They fund grass-roots bird conservation projects around the world. All 2021 winners can be viewed on the competition’s main website.