This little guy gave me quite a few interesting stretching poses at different angles.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I photographed this male Broad-tailed Hummingbird three days ago in the Wasatch Mountains as he repeatedly flew off from and landed on his favorite perch, a vertical serviceberry stem. It was an ideal high perch from which to survey and guard his kingdom and it was almost perfect for photography too.
But he could see a larger portion of his territory when he had his back to me so that’s what he most often did. Here he was looking for intruders to his left which gave me a good look at his face, lit up much of his dorsal iridescence and revealed more of his small but attractive perch.
Occasionally he would break out into an enthusiastic stretch, sometimes with his back to me and sometimes not. Following are three of my favorite stretching poses.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Normally I wouldn’t post a photo of a bird with its back to the viewer where we can barely see its head and eye but I thought this beautiful tail spread was worth a look-see. The touch of rufous in its outer tail feathers is one of the distinctive field marks of the species.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Occasionally he actually gave me a sideview with eye contact when he stretched. Here his right wing shaded the usually more colorful perch but I like the pose, the light on the bird and the good look at all of that pollen on his bill.
1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This stretching pose provided a unique posture in interesting light, great eye contact and allowed us the best look at the colorful perch while the bird was present (often his body hid much of it). But the bird is just a hair short of tack sharp so I had to add just a little extra sharpening during processing.
Tradeoffs. All too often bird photography is about tradeoffs…
Ron
What a wonderful series Ron!
Charlotte
Stunning photos!
Thank you, April.
Marvelous shots! I think I actually like the first stretch pose the best. I really like his somewhat contorted position, the tail is spectacular, you got a catchlight in his eye, there’s pollen on the bill, and both wings are fully visible and very sharp. It would be perfect if the gorget was lit up. 🙂
And to think I almost didn’t post that shot! Thanks, Marty. I’m convinced.
Life is about tradeoffs.
You, and we, came off on the right side of the equation here. Love those stretches, and the irridescent little beauty blows me away.
Thanks, EC. Sometimes we all get lucky…
Ron, one of my favorite birds in poses. I’ve never seen photos like these of a hummingbird. They are so tiny that it is hard to realize that they do most all of the things that larger birds do, like stretch, etc. The tail feather spread is gorgeous. Thank you for this great post, Ron
Alice, they not only do it but they do it very fast so that’s another reason we often don’t notice it. Thanks.
The rufous tail feathers are complemented nicely by the rufous serviceberry. This guy reminds of the posing you see at body building competitions.
I guess I’ll call him Arnold…
Thank you for such as great look close up of my favorite bird. I watch them a lot and even with binoculars it is hard to see all the detail you get with your great photography.
Thanks, Betty. The resolution of my lens in addition to the fact that they’re still photos we can study instead of a moving bird makes a lot of difference.
P.S. Beautiful shots of the Warbler yesterday! WOW! Yes, a pickup is a pickup and the larger vehicles are a “truck” – I was sorted on that quickly when I first came to the farm! 😉
I was wondering what your take on that “pickup” vs “truck” thing would be. But I figured I could predict what it would be… 🙂
Her name is Nina, pretty ballerina. Great photos, not the “usual” hummingbird shots!
“He” might take exception to that name until he thought about the implied compliment. Thanks, Elmer.
Almost like a hummingbird anatomy illustration this morning–that tail spread shot is magnificent !
I like it too, Kris – back to me or not.
Beautiful little Hummer, Ron…….:) So many different colors all beautiful. The way he “humped up” reminded me of the Warbler the other day… Stormy, most missed us so far – need the rain. Smoke only visible as a slight haze on the mountains yesterday and this may help for awhile anyway…..
Judy, that “humped up” look was because he had just stretched and roused a little.
Thanks for another smoke report. It’s still on the table…
Beautiful series, Ron! I love them all.
Good. Thanks, Gail.
Excellent Ron. What a great perch – no branches, twigs, leaves, etc, in the way. My favorite is the back exposed pose with the way your camera caught the wings and tail feathers and you even got a catch eye at that angle. Remarkable. Murphy was busy somewhere else. And whatever you did in processing to sharpen definitely worked. No lack of sharpness to my 81 year old eyes.:)
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
Nah, Murphy was definitely there, Everett. He just took an occasional break that morning. Thanks.
Could not pick a favorite here! They each offer that ‘little bit of sunshine’ that makes each quite unique. Great post.😍
Thank you, Kathy.