2026 Burrowing Owl Photo Contest
Sponsored By
Friday, May 1st, 2026 – Sunday, May 17th, 2026
Celebrate Cape Coral’s iconic burrowing owl and showcase your photography skills. Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife invites amateur photographers of all ages to participate in this year’s Burrowing Owl Photo Contest. Capture the city’s official bird in its natural habitat and submit your entries for a chance to be featured and recognized in this community-wide event.
General Conditions
- All entrants must print and sign a Permission to Use Photo Form and submit it along with their photograph to bophotocontest1@gmail.com. See official contest rules for more information.
Who May Enter
Division Categories
- Amateur Youth: 7 to 17 years of age as of the date of submission.
- Amateur Adult: 18 years old and up.
- You may submit one photograph to only one of the two divisions.
Eligible Photographs
- To be eligible to win a prize, all submitted photographs must depict a Cape Coral Burrowing Owl(s).
- Normal processing of the original file is acceptable, including cropping, minor adjustments to color, white balance, lighting levels, and more.
- Photographs that have been digitally or otherwise altered beyond standard optimization will be disqualified. See official contest rules for more information.
Judging
Judging will be conducted by a panel of judges appointed by Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, including experienced photographers and community representatives. Judges will score eligible photographs using the following criteria:
- Technical quality (30%)
- Originality (30%)
- Artistic merit (40%)
Prizes
Prizes will be awarded as follows:
One Grand Prize to the highest-scoring photograph across both divisions
First Place (Adult Division) – awarded to the highest-scoring photograph in the Adult division
Second Place (Adult Division)
Third Place (Adult Division)
First Place (Youth Division) – awarded to the highest-scoring photograph in the Youth division
Second Place (Youth Division)
Third Place (Youth Division)
No entrant may win more than one prize. In the event of a tie for any prize, the judges will use Artistic Merit of each tied photograph. The photograph with the highest Artistic Merit score will be the winner of that prize. The decisions of the judges and the sponsor will be final. Winners will be contacted and confirmed by email and/or telephone on or about May 23rd, 2026. The winners will be announced during a special awards ceremony on Saturday, May 30th, 2026 at 12:00 PM at Rotary Park in Cape Coral, and on the CCFW website www.ccfriendsofwildlife.org and Facebook Page, CCFW Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife.
Winners Announcement
- Winners will be announced during a special awards ceremony on May 30th at 12:00 PM at Rotary Park in Cape Coral.
See Last Year’s Winners
