The winners of the magazine's 39^th annual photography competition

A great wildlife photograph celebrates the unexpected, and the 39th annual National Wildlife Photo Contest is full of improbable images: A bald eagle and its prey appear frozen in midair. A night-blooming flower glows from within, revealing a visiting insect. Calling for a mate, a Brazilian frog appears nearly swallowed by its own vocal sac.

This year's contest winners are drawn from nearly 70,000 entries—the largest pool in contest history—in seven categories: Mammals, Birds, Other Wildlife, Landscapes and Plant Life, Backyard Habitats, Connecting People and Nature and, for the first time, Global Warming. This new category features species whose habitats or behaviors have been affected by climate change. Along with selecting the two $5,000 grand prize winners—one each for the professional and amateur divisions—judges awarded cash and other prizes for the first- and second-place winners in every category in each of the two divisions. One winner was also chosen in the youth division.

All honorable mentions will be posted in our redesigned PhotoZone section that goes live in January 2010. Come back then to see more images from our 2009 photo contest!

Our 40th annual National Wildlife Photo Contest also will open in January. Cash prizes of more than $30,000 and other gifts will be awarded in three divisions and seven categories. If you want to receive an email when the contest opens, sign up here

View past winners galleries:
2008 Winners Gallery
2007 Winners Gallery
2006 Winners Gallery
2006 Winners
2005 Winners
2004 Winners
2003 Winners - slide show
2002 Winners - slide show
2001 Winners - slide show

Prize packages for the 2008 contest were brought to you by:

If you enjoy taking photos of wildlife, landscapes or people enjoying the great outdoors, the editors of National Wildlife invite you to join our photo group on Flickr—a place to share your images of nature.

• Upload your photos
• View images taken by others
• Vote for your favorites
•Be a part of a community

Join the National Wildlife Magazine Photo Group today.

SPECIAL FEATURES

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For Kids
Ranger Rick PhotoZone

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