This photo by Long Branch nature photographer Patricia Homonylo won her the title of Bird Photographer of the Year.
A Long Branch conservation photojournalist has made international headlines in being selected from 23,000 others as Bird Photographer of the Year in an image highlighting bird deaths.
Patricia Homonylo’s photo of 4,000 dead birds beat out thousands of others from around the world to win the sought-after distinction and prominence from bird lovers world wide.
The title, and about $6,000, were awarded on September 30 by the Natural History Museum in London, which can receive more than 30,000 images yearly for consideration.
Bird Photographer of the Year Patricia Homonylo gained headlines for her captivating photo.
“I am honoured, thrilled and overwhelmed having been awarded the Bird Photographer of the Year,” Homonylo said. It is “considered the most prestigious bird photography competition in the world.”
Her goal is to bring attention to the deaths of birds from flying into windows.
“It has been my mission to bring attention to the global and catastrophic issue of bird-window collisions,” she wrote on social media.
Her photo, called ‘When Worlds Collide,’ shows the birds arranged in a circular fashion. They were all killed by colliding with glass in Toronto.
Shot by Patricia Homonylo to help curb bird on window deaths.
Their bodies were collected and arranged by members of the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP), a charity where Homonylo volunteers, which helps birds injured in these kinds of collisions.
“Unfortunately, most of the birds they find are dead,” she said. “Those bodies are never left behind.”
She said each year more than one billion birds die in North America alone due to collisions with windows.
The image also netted gold in the competition’s Conservation category.
All the birds in her award-winning picture died preventable deaths, the Etobicoke conservation photographer said.
The award-winning photographer in the field trying to get a shot.
Homonylo began taking wildlife photography seriously about 10-years ago. Originally from Oakville, she has been living in Long Branch for many years and has taken part in the Bird and Tree Fests in the community.
She said the bird deaths can be prevented by making windows bird-safe by turning off the lights, and by demanding that governments create bird-safe building standards.
Environment Canada estimates as many as 42 million birds die from collisions with windows every year in this country. Already this year, FLAP has recorded 331,718 fatal bird collisions in North America.