I’ll document interesting behaviors even when the bird is far away and the late morning light is becoming harsh.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Yesterday morning I watched through my lens as this faraway Western Kingbird beat the crap out of a fairly large insect by repeatedly whapping it against the dried sunflower twig ‘he’ was perched on. It wasn’t until I got home and looked at my photos more carefully that I realized that I’d captured him throwing the insect up in the air before catching it again and then swallowing it.
Almost immediately after he swallowed the bug, he captured another insect and flew with it to a nearby barbed wire fence.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Imagine my surprise when I looked at my photos and realized that I’d captured him throwing the second insect into the air too. It looks to me like the two insects might be of the same species but they’re definitely two different bugs.
I’ve always been a little jealous of bird photographers who regularly photograph various species of African, Asian or European bee-eaters tossing bees, wasps and other insects into the air before swallowing them. So it was fun to capture the behavior twice with this kingbird.
Next time, if there is a next time, I hope the bird will be closer and in better light.
Ron
Wonderful capture, the light on the last shot looks good.
Like eating popcorn! 😉
AMAZING SHOTS..you are a miracle photographer!
I don’t know about that but thanks, Patty.
He catches much better than I do.
Behaviour shots are ALWAYS winners. And not realising that you have captured a new behaviour makes that win even sweeter.
Good to know you like behavior shots, EC. Of course I think I already knew that. Thanks
What fun photographs!! I love the popcorn analogy. Personally, I find the lighting lovely and dramatic.
Thank you, Melanie.
Great action shots. You can cross that bit of photographer’s envy off your list. Twice, no less. We can wonder whether this behavior is play or helps it go down the hatch, or both, although I’m drawn to Michael’s popcorn theory.
Lyle, I like Michael’s theory too. It’s just as good as any other and besides, it’s more fun.
I’ve never even seen a Kingbird eating let alone tossing an insect into the air and then catching it and eating. Great action shots. These often are the kind of things you see when you get home and put them on the screen. Guess he whacks them on the branches first so they are not capable of flying away when he tosses them.
“Guess he whacks them on the branches first so they are not capable of flying away when he tosses them”
There could be other reasons too, Everett – to ‘tenderize them, practice, play. Who knows…
Cool! I’ve not witnessed that behavior before. 🙂 Wonder what happens if they “miss” the catch/what the learning curve is for that? 😉
Judy, I’ve seen both kingfishers and two species of kingbirds “miss the catch”. The kingfisher tried to catch the fish before it hit the ground and failed. Both kingbirds retrieved the fallen insect from the ground.
Amazing photos! Never seen that before. I wonder. Do they do this for the same casual playful self-entertaining whimsy as that of a human when tossing kernels of popcorn into the air and catching them in ones mouth?
Michael, a friend just asked a similar question on Facebook about this behavior. My reply – “At times birds seem to enjoy it. Kingfishers sometimes whack their fish so hard and for so long you’d think all that would be left would be fish mush.”