23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Wildlife
The Silent Gaze of the Forest Sentine

A crested hawk-eagle pauses at dusk in Yala, turning its piercing gaze toward my lens. The fading sunlight shaped a soft gradient around it, revealing both its power and vulnerability in a single quiet moment of the wild.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2025
Date Uploaded: 12.2025
Photo Location: Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
Camera: Canon EOS R3
Copyright: © Riznad Hussain