![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/chukar-9200-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"chukar-9200-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nNormally I try to avoid publishing photos of the same species in back-to-back posts but I’ll make an exception for a Chukar fight.<\/p>\n
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1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Three days ago I was driving along the base of a very steep hill when I heard Chukars calling excitedly somewhere on the side of the same hill. From the sound of their calls I could tell there was tension amongst the Chukars so I spent the next ten minutes or so driving back and forth very slowly along the base of the hill in an attempt to locate them. In all that time I only got glimpses of two of them through the bushes on the hillside.<\/p>\n But finally they came out into the relative open where I could see them, briefly. Here a lone male is pursuing an obviously mated pair, out of frame to the right. During breeding season male Chukars, rather than defending breeding territory, tend to repel other males from the vicinity of their mates. The male in this photo was pursuing the already bonded female so I figured a fight might soon result.<\/p>\n I was right.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Here we see the pursuing male on the left and the mated pair on the right. The female is about to disappear at upper right while her mate is following her, with his eye on the pursuing male. I suspect the mated male intended to just follow his mate into the bushes but the pursuing male didn’t give him that chance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Instead he lunged forward and attacked the mated male. Here his bill is buried in the feathers of the mated male’s upper back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n They duked it out for a second or two before…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n they both leaped into the air while still facing each other. Kung fu Chukars.<\/p>\n The fight was over almost as quickly as it began. After this shot was taken they stared at each other for a couple of seconds before the mated male followed his mate and disappeared in the bushes. But the pursuing male hadn’t given up so he followed them into the bushes. I never saw any of them again, although I continued to hear their excited calling.<\/p>\n These aren’t great photos but I’ve only photographed fighting Chukars once before so I decided to post them anyway. I love documenting bird behaviors, including fights, and I’ve learned to give those types of photos a little more wiggle room when it comes to image quality.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Normally I try to avoid publishing photos of the same species in back-to-back posts but I’ll make an exception for a Chukar fight. (5 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/chukar-9206-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"chukar-9206-ron-dudley\\"")
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