Migration Magic Photo Contest 2025

Jason Scavotto’s photo of a Baltimore Oriole confronting a Blue Jay won first place in the 2024 Birdathon Photo Contest.

Everyone who participates in the Migration Magic Birdathon, scheduled for May 1-31, 2025, is eligible for the Photo Contest.

Register for the Birdathon and enter your best photos!

We will award prizes for best photo taken by an adult and best photo taken by a young birder (17 years and younger). We will announce the name of this year’s Photo Contest judge soon.

How to participate

To participate in the Photo Contest, you must first register to enter the Migration Magic Birdathon. The fee is $10.

The Photo Contest is open to photographers of all ages and skill levels (except Connecticut Audubon Society board members, staff members and their immediate families.)

When you submit your photos please indicate if you are in the “Young Birder” category which is anyone 17 and under.

What photos can I enter?

Enter digital photos of any bird you capture doing anything in the wild taken during the month of May 2025 within the state of Connecticut and the New York portion of Deer Pond Farm. (No pet or captive birds please.)

Each participant can enter a maximum of 3 photographs.

Submitted images must be captured ethically, without causing harm or disturbance to wildlife, their habitats, or other individuals. This includes refraining from harassing animals, disturbing or relocating nests, feeding wildlife, handling them, use of a flash, and using recordings to attract birds. Additionally, photos must respect the rights of other photographers and individuals.
Use of drones, airplanes, helicopters, and hang gliders is prohibited. Avoid “bushwhacking,” and stay on trails. No trespassing on private property – participants must have permission from landowners. Please attempt to minimize your impact on the environment.

Abide by the Code of Birding Ethics and the ABA Guidelines on Birding and Social Distancing.

Image Type, Size, and Alterations

Photos must be in JPEG format and not exceed 15MB.

Please submit the original photograph with minimal editing. Screen captures of images, AI-generated images, and screen captures from social media platforms will not be accepted.

All photos should accurately represent the subject and scene as they appeared. While standard optimizations—such as dust removal, cropping, exposure adjustments, minor color and contrast adjustments, noise reduction, and sharpening—are allowed, excessive digital alterations are not permitted. The original image must be available upon request, and all submissions must be free of watermarks or photographer names.

Steven Jacqmin won first place in the Young Birder category for this photo of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

How to Submit

Submit photos (maximum 3) to migrationmagic@ctaudubon.org as attachments (not in the body) with your name in the email (no watermarks).

Please give details about the photo – species, location, etc.  We will send them, anonymously, to this year’s Photo Contest judge. The deadline for submitting Photo Contest photos is 5 p.m., Friday, June 6.

Prizes

The photo contest judge will award prizes for best photo taken by an adult and best photo taken by a young birder (17 years and younger). They will also choose a number of honorable mentions.

Stay tuned for a list of prizes.

Previous winners:

2024 — Jason Scavotto and Steven Jacqmin

2023 — Samantha DeMarco and Kalel Attonito

2022 — Robert Gerard and Pavana Attonito

2021 — Tomas Koeck and Kalel Attonito

2020 — Elizabeth Jaffin and Eli Horton
 

Rights

By entering the photo contest, you grant The Connecticut Audubon Society non-exclusive, worldwide, and irrevocable rights to publish your photos in all Connecticut Audubon Society publicity materials, both print and electronic. This includes use on our website, in promotional materials, advertisements, and social media. Additionally, you grant permission for your name, city, and state of residence to be included in such publications. All photographs will be credited to the photographer’s name.

Thank you to the sponsors of Migration Magic 2025!