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The kingbird in the first four photos of this post was the most cooperative specimen of the species I’ve ever photographed.\u00a0\u00a0 It let me get close while on a natural perch (as opposed to the fence wires they so often prefer) and it gave me a variety of interesting calling, preening and stretching\u00a0poses for almost five minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/9, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n As the bird moved to my left on the perch it (the perch)\u00a0developed a different character\u00a0due to\u00a0the curving twig coming off the main branch.\u00a0\u00a0 Here the kingbird is beginning an elaborate and drawn out stretch.\u00a0 Some of the whites are a little bright under the wing but I wanted to show this pose as part of the behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0It fanned its tail and then stretched each wing with what seemed to me like obvious enjoyment.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0 1\/1600, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n Then it began to call.\u00a0 And I do mean with enthusiasm!\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n These next three photos were taken on my family farm in northwest Montana.\u00a0 I believe\u00a0this bird and the one below to be juveniles.\u00a0 They were hunting insects from the barbed wire fences.\u00a0 And in reality I really like barbed wire for a perch when it’s rusty\u00a0and appropriate for the species as it is for these kingbirds.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 1\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n Another thing I liked about the Montana shots is the nice backgrounds I often got from the drying grasses in morning or evening light.\u00a0 I went for an extra shallow depth of field with this shot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n This adult bird had just caught a spider(?) and returned to the wire with it.\u00a0 That’s a useful bit of behavior for bird photographers to know –\u00a0kingbirds will often hunt from a low perch, fly off to retrieve the insect they’ve spotted and then return to the same perch with the prey.\u00a0 Researchers estimate that this happens roughly 50% of the time.\u00a0 So if you wait for the return you can often\u00a0photograph\u00a0them with prey or even in flight just as they’re landing if you pre-focus on the perch.\u00a0 Knowing the behavior tendencies of your subjects can often be a very useful tool for nature photographers.\u00a0<\/p>\n I don’t know for sure what the red\u00a0debris is on the beak – perhaps\u00a0a\u00a0bit of a previous and colorful insectivorous meal…<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 320, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n But if you’re going to try for that landing (or take-off shot) be prepared with the appropriate settings to get the results you’re after.\u00a0 Here I wasn’t anticipating a take-off and didn’t have enough shutter speed to freeze the action in the wings.\u00a0 Something like ISO 400 to 500 and f\/6.3 or 7.1\u00a0would have given me the shutter speed to stop the motion in the wings.\u00a0 That said, many folks prefer this motion blur in the wings for situations like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"eastern-kingbird-0315\"](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/eastern-kingbird-03151.jpg\" "\\"eastern-kingbird-0315\\"")
<\/a><\/em>\u00a01\/1000, f\/9, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n