{"id":57967,"date":"2018-04-04T06:20:55","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T12:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=57967"},"modified":"2018-04-04T08:03:42","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T14:03:42","slug":"horned-lark-posing-up-a-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/04\/horned-lark-posing-up-a-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Horned Lark Posing Up A Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

And providing evidence of why some bird species\u00a0“wear to dark”.<\/p>\n

Some folks don’t pay much attention to Horned Larks but I always enjoy seeing them and I’ll photograph them at every opportunity. By nature I’ve always been what I call a “watcher” and for me that tendency had its roots as a kid growing up on the Montana family farm where the most common birds were Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks.<\/p>\n

I’d often hold still for long periods to see just how close birds\u00a0would eventually approach me as they were foraging on the ground and those that came closest were usually Horned Larks (at the time I didn’t even know what they were called). As about a 7-year-old I remember noticing the erect horns and striking facial patterns of male Horned\u00a0Larks for the first time when one came in very close and being fascinated by those subtle\u00a0details I’d always missed at longer distances.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

So yesterday\u00a0on Antelope Island I really enjoyed spending 6 full minutes with this male\u00a0Horned Lark as he sang and preened on a rock in the morning sun. It was an unusually cold morning (it had been 23 degrees F. only a few minutes earlier) so the lark was fluffed up almost the entire time.<\/p>\n

Compare the colors on the back and side of the bird in this photo to…<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

those in the same bird in this shot and notice how dark\u00a0those same feathers suddenly\u00a0appear when they’re\u00a0fluffed up. That’s because feathers overlap and we usually see only the colors of\u00a0their terminal and lateral edges but the bases of those same feathers in many species are much darker than the parts we normally see. But when birds rouse or fluff up we often see those much darker feather bases.<\/p>\n

That fact accounts for why many bird species “wear to dark”. As the lighter outside edges of those feathers wear away over time we begin to see more of the darker bases which alters the apparent color of the bird. I’ve noticed this process occurring especially in Chukars and Loggerhead Shrikes. I documented that color change in both species in this older post<\/a> if you’re interested in seeing it.<\/p>\n

Ok, back to the posing antics of this particular Horned Lark.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

When he roused some of his feathers were really tossed around, especially on his back.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Soon he performed a nice wing lift with eye contact and after he turned again on the rock he…<\/p>\n

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1\/6400, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

performed\u00a0a leisurely\u00a0wing and tail stretch (here his tail is mostly hidden) with good eye contact again.<\/p>\n