Best bird photos of the year announced – also a Eurofins special prize
On November 16, the awards and special prizes of one of Hungary's most important nature photography competitions, the Birdo Bird Photographer of the Year competition, were presented in the Hall of Giants of the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden, including a donation from Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft. Our laboratory has been supporting this major competition since its inception, which has now become an international competition, with 506 entries in the second round, from which the winners were selected by a professional jury.
The Birdo 2024 competition ended with a festive awards ceremony, as the seven-member international jury of renowned photographers and birders scored the second round entries independently of each other to determine the final results.
In each category, the top 3 finishers and two highly rated photos were awarded, whose creators received cash prizes worth more than HUF 2 million in total, a certificate with their name, a With you object and a Birdo photo album with the winning photos. The With you badge, which can be attached to the camera strap, carries the Birdo message: photographers are part of an effort to make more people love birds.
Angel. Source: Birdo.
At the awards ceremony, held in the Hall of Giants, a total of 49 entries, category winners and special prize winners were recognized. This year, the awards ceremony could also be followed online. As well as hopefully allowing people who had not entered the competition but who like bird photography to attend, this innovation was important as entries were received from more than 30 countries this year. Birdo's Facebook page broadcast the event in English, its YouTube channel in Hungarian, and you can watch the full footage here at any time.
The special Eurofins prize went to István Hogya's work entitled City Goose. The prize - gift vouchers from an electronics store - was presented by Gábor Szunyogh, Head of Marketing, who in his brief explanation emphasized that Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft. has been committed to environmental protection since its establishment, and the staff working in the laboratory hunt for molecules in the samples with the same enthusiasm and perseverance as do bird photographers.
The special Eurofins prize was awarded to the photo entitled City Goose.
András Petur hosted a lively and exciting celebration for the audience. At the beginning of the awards ceremony, Dr. Endre Sós, Director of the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden, host of the event, shared interesting information about birds and bird photography, and gave examples of why a bird photography competition is important and useful. He told us that there are nearly 11,000 species of birds living on Earth today, such as the small goda, which flies nonstop 11,000 kilometers between Alaska and New Zealand in 8 days, or the hummingbird, whose wings beat 10 to 80 times per second. These are fantastic but somewhat abstract figures, but bird photography is able to bring them closer to us.
There is a specific picture among the submitted photos – pointed out Endre Sós - that shows a pheasant vibrating its wings during courtship. Not many people get to see this in person. There are 51 known species of pheasants, one of which lives in Africa, all the others are in Asia , and nearly half of them are endangered. The reason why a photo competition is important is that it helps to raise awareness of the species and in doing so can help to protect them.
Doris Awad Abdel Halim Abdel Halim, one of the competition's organizers, also emphasised in her welcome speech that Birdo's commitment to helping protect birds is important.
"The world of birds is a treasure that we must protect. So with Birdo we want to show not only beautiful pictures, but also what we can do to keep birds safe. Alongside stunning portraits, action-packed scenes and special moments, we also showcase good examples, local initiatives and bird conservation projects. These will help us to raise awareness about the role of birds in nature and the importance of their conservation." - she said.
Zsuzsanna S. Takács, also one of the organizers of the competition, spoke about the importance of trust and cooperation for a competition to work really well. A common language, a love of birds, helps the organizer and the applicant to understand each other, to get to know each other and to help each other in their work.
"This competition is driven by photographers. If they love it, it's a loveable competition. I trust that's the case." - she added. She also shared some facts with the attendees. “The second round of photos shows more than 170 species of birds. The most popular birds in Birdo 2024 were the bee eater and the gray heron, with 16-16 of them. The black stork, crane and mallard are not far behind."
You're not funny, neighbor. Source: Birdo.
The Birdo Bird Photographer of the Year and Birdo Young Bird Photographer of the Year Grand Prizes were awarded to the entries with the highest scores. The overall winner of the Birdo Bird Photographer of the Year 2024 was nature photographer Bence Máté, while the Birdo Young Bird Photographer of the Year 2024 was awarded to Tamás Koncz-Bisztricz. The Birdo Bird Photo of the Year 2024 was again selected from the category winners. This award was won by Éva Glavati Nagy's Dance of the starlings, the first place winner in the Open Workshop category.
The award ceremony ended with an exhibition of the winning photos. The exhibition was opened by Imre Potyó, one of the jury members of the competition, who began his speech by saying, "Birdo is a celebration of bird photography, a collection of the most important bird photographs in Hungary, and as such, it is unique."
The traveling exhibition will moved to Tata for three weeks from November 20 to be viewed by participants of the Tata Wild Goose Festival, and returned to the Hall of Giants on December 10, where it is on display during the Zoo's regular opening hours until the end of February 2025.
The winning photos can be seen here: https://bird-o.hu/dijnyertes-fotok-2024?page=1