{"id":70870,"date":"2019-04-12T05:02:12","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T11:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=70870"},"modified":"2019-04-12T10:08:39","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T16:08:39","slug":"willet-wars-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/12\/willet-wars-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Willet Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I thought cat fights were vicious until I witnessed this Willet brawl.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Occasionally I rerun a favorite older post because few current viewers have seen it. This one was published on April 24, 2011. I&#8217;ve rewritten much of the text and cleaned up the formatting but I haven&#8217;t reprocessed the images.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Earlier this week I witnessed an incredible display of avian aggression on Antelope Island. I&#8217;ve often seen and photographed battling birds but I&#8217;ve never before witnessed such a long-lasting and vicious fight as this one between two Willets. It lasted for over 20 minutes and I took 413 photos of the action.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The conditions for photography were far from ideal. As the battle raged lighting conditions were constantly changing and the birds were often sidelit or had obstructing vegetation in front of them. But I&#8217;ll post less than perfect images of interesting behaviors in a heartbeat and I thought these photos and the behavior they document were worth another look.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"willet-5023\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5023.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"900\" height=\"779\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The Willets were already fighting as I approached them in my pickup so they mostly ignored me after pausing for a few seconds when I first drove up.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet 5025\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5025.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"889\" height=\"900\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In this and the following photo the bird on the right had its bill tightly clamped on the upper mandible of the other bird.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet-5026\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5026.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"798\" height=\"900\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The bird on the left was desperately trying to break the grip of its tormentor but it took some struggling before it finally succeeded.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"willet-5036\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5036.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"777\" height=\"900\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In this photo the same bill-grasping behavior occurs again. You can see that it&#8217;s a separate event from the one in the previous images from the differences in the setting.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet-5049\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5049.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"900\" height=\"692\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Cornell&#8217;s Birds of North America Online states that when these birds fight it&#8217;s not unusual for them to try to pull out each others tail feathers and that they occasionally succeed. I suspect that&#8217;s what the bird on the left might be attempting to do here.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet-5065\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5065.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"900\" height=\"697\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It was breathtaking to watch the incredible speed at which these birds maneuvered during the brawl. <em>BNA<\/em> has this to say about the quickness of Willets during a fight: fights &#8220;transpire so quickly that it is impossible to analyze component movements in real-time&#8221;. Boy, that&#8217;s for sure! Without stop-action photography all this fighting would have been just a blur.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet-5139\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5139.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" \/><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/2500, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Whenever one of the birds was able to latch on to a body part (usually the tail, bill, leg or wing) of its opponent it was extremely reluctant to let go. And they make a <em>lot<\/em> of noise during a fight. I can hear them in my mind as I type this.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet-5217\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5217.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"900\" height=\"737\" \/><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This one got a stranglehold on the neck of its opponent and wouldn&#8217;t let go. For a while I thought the poor bird might be seriously injured or even killed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet-5227\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5227.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"900\" height=\"717\" \/><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p>According to<em> BNA, <\/em>occasionally when Willets fight &#8220;each bird grasps the other\u2019s leg, neck, or wing with its bill, immobilizing each other up to 18 minutes&#8221;. I never saw it last that long but twice one of these birds had the other pinned down for an extended period of time.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet-5256\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5256.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"900\" height=\"658\" \/><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 500<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I assume that the combatants here were males fighting over territory or breeding rights though the sexes are virtually impossible to tell apart and females are also known to fight each other. If the combatants were males the female they were presumably fighting over (on the far right) stood passively by during the entire episode, interested but seemingly detached at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet-5333\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5333.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Willets\" width=\"900\" height=\"713\" \/><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">They would often use their bills as a stabbing weapons but most of my shots of that action were almost completely obscured by vegetation. This is the best one I have to show that behavior (from the bird on the right).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"willet-5395\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5395.jpg\" alt=\"Vanquished flying off\" width=\"900\" height=\"685\" \/><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><em>Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, 1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">After almost 25 minutes of fighting (I don&#8217;t know how long it had gone on before I arrived) one of the birds had apparently had enough and departed the area. I was able to get off two shots as he flew off.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">What an incredible event to witness. I&#8217;ve often said that even if I don&#8217;t get any great shots on a bird photography trip I still usually enjoy the experience just by being with them, watching their behaviors and improving my photography skills.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This experience was the epitome of that kind of morning.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ron<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I thought cat fights were vicious before I witnessed this Willet brawl.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/12\/willet-wars-2\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,334,394,343],"tags":[31,140,810,311,327],"class_list":["post-70870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island","category-birds","category-fighting-bird-behaviors","category-willets","tag-antelope-island-2","tag-fighting","tag-tringa-semipalmata","tag-utah-2","tag-willet"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/willet-5026.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-ir4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}