The Global Nightjar Network 2026 Photography Contest Results
The Global Nightjar Network held its first ever photography contest this year! We were proud to receive a total of 45 submissions from 16 different countries. The submissions represented an astounding 12 different species of nightjar. It was an excellent representation of nightjars around the world, and there were many excellent submissions.
We would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to our three winners and ten honorable mentions chosen by our three judges. You can view the winners and read their stories below. We would also like to thank the judges, Mark Gibbs, Eric Medard, and Liam Corcoran, for their efforts making such a challenging decision with so many good photographs of nightjars.
All 13 winning photographs are featured in the new Global Nightjar Network 2027 calendars:
Now on to our winners!
FIRST PLACE
“For two years now, I’ve been dreaming of spotting the legendary nightjar. In December 2024, I planned a trip to a spot for May 2025, just as they were returning from Africa. So I waited for several weeks… On the big day, the excitement is at its peak; twilight is slow in coming, and when 8 p.m. strikes, the show begins. Individuals strut, sing, and hunt above me, completely undisturbed by my presence. At the height of my joy, I spot a bird perched on a branch. Just a few inches from my line of sight, the full moon rises and illuminates the scene. So, I contort myself awkwardly on the ground to find the angle where the moon and the bird will finally align. After several minutes of adjustments and feverish clicks, I finally manage to capture this shot. A few minutes later, filled with joy and admiration, I head home with a sense of melancholy at leaving this scene behind. This night will remain etched in my memory as one of the most beautiful of my life.”
~ Charlie Gourivaud
SECOND PLACE
THIRD PLACE
“Una tarde de verano mientra conducia, me detuve ha hacerle una foto a la hembra en una piedra y en un instante aparecio el macho y fue algo increible poder captar ese momento.”
“One summer afternoon while driving, I stopped to take a picture of the female on a rock and in an instant the male appeared, and it was incredible to be able to capture that moment.”
~ Yadiel Veunes
HONORABLE MENTION
“I was taking pictures of nightjars, laying on the ground, when a car approached in front of us. A frequent moment for nightjars, captured from their point of view.”
~ Arnau Guardia Povedano
“Justo al caer la tarde comienza la magia.”
“Just as evening falls, the magic begins.”
~ Yadiel Veunes
“A branch that might seem insignificant to anyone else, but for the nightjar, it was the perfect spot to spread its distinctive call. That brief moment seemed suspended in time. The very essence of twilight.”
~ Pau Vilanova
“I was birdwatching in a farm area when I accidentally flushed this brownish bird sitting on the ground. It flew away and landed below some flowery bushes. I stopped and quietly observed the bird, it was probably tired as it just settled down and almost immediately fell asleep! I quietly crept to a good distance away and snapped a shot of this Indian nightjar, snoozing among the flowers.”
~ Derrick Lim
“The Indian nightjar is a small, nocturnal bird with a small, rapid, high-pitched call befitting its size.”
~ Rat Puranrak
“One of those moments in wildlife photography that really makes you stop and think.
I was exploring the plateau of Manori, Mumbai, looking for Indian Nightjars. During one of my night walks, I came across an individual around midnight and managed to photograph it using a torch.
But something didn’t feel right.
I kept thinking about the photograph and realised that disturbing a bird in the middle of the night, especially during breeding, wasn’t worth it just for a picture. So I decided to leave it alone.
The next morning, I came back to the same location. From a safe distance, I noticed the female sitting quietly on her eggs. This time, I simply observed and photographed her without disturbing her. And honestly, this photograph means much more to me than the one I could have taken the night before.
Wildlife photography isn’t just about getting the shot. Sometimes, it’s about knowing when to step back and let the wild be wild.”
~ Rohan Rane
“After hours of searching, this male nightjar was finally found resting during the day.”
~ Itso E. Järvinen
“Getting close is a unique process and it will get you best pictures!”
~ Rui Pereira
“How can I capture what has always captivated me about your flight at twilight? Perhaps the answer lies more in an image like this one, which refuses to freeze the moment in time, choosing to suggest rather than documenting, allowing your wings to breathe freely and preserve that gentle yet intensely poetic trace that defines the mystery of your flight.”
~ Pau Vilanova
MEET THE JUDGES
An incredible shoutout to our three judges for our photography contest this year!
Mark Gibbs (Instagram: @markgibbsartist)
Based in the North of England, Mark Gibbs is a visual artist and arts educator who exhibits across the UK and internationally. His Nightjar Project explores camouflage and folklore through paper sculpture and drawing. Highly realistic yet conceptually driven, the birds’ plumage is often replaced with text or QR codes. Though his practice nightjar have become to him symbolic emissaries of peace.
Mark participated in the Global Nightjar Network’s 2023 and 2024 conferences. Including presenting a creative public engagement game for Nightjar ecologists.
He says, ‘It’s wonderful that a fascination with these birds unites people from across the world’.
Eric Medard (Instagram: @eric.medard)
Erica has been a French wildlife photographer since 1990, and a full-time professional for the past 13 years. Eric studied natural sciences at the University of Le Mans and then in Rennes, where he obtained a master's degree in natural sciences, and then became a teacher until 2011.
Through these studies, he was able to gain an understanding of all living things and the interactions that govern them, enabling him to photograph wild animals and the landscapes in which they live.
What interests him in particular is documenting the behavior of wild animals, showing them in their environment and, above all, photographing them without interacting with them and therefore respecting them as much as possible.
He has been working on a nocturnal documentary featuring infrared photography techniques: “Nocturnes.”
Liam Corcoran (Instagram: @lcorcoran117)
Liam has worked with a variety of species from passerines to shorebirds, but nightjars (and especially Whip-poor-wills) are his true passion. He much prefers night field work rather than early mornings, so working with nocturnal species like nightjars is a great fit. His master's work focused on the nest site behavior, chick growth, and movement of Eastern Whip-poor-wills in Rhode Island, USA. He is now one of the steering committee members for the Global Nightjar Network.
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