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<\/p>\nResulting in a somewhat unconventional takeoff posture.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 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 Yesterday morning while I was photographing other birds this Say’s Phoebe landed on top of sagebrush quite a distance from me. Say’s Phoebes typically hawk insects from low perches and that’s exactly what ‘he’ was doing. But this perch had potential obstacles, sagebrush stems, in most directions it might take off after a bug and and one or more of those obstacles would likely have to be dealt with during takeoff.<\/p>\n The insect he eventually spotted was almost directly in front of the bird so those two vertical stems in that direction presented a bit of a problem.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 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 But they were nothing the phoebe couldn’t handle. During takeoff he jumped straight up (probably assisted by the spring in the perch) before propelling himself forward with his wings which resulted in a somewhat unusual flight posture and a successful negotiation of the obstacles. I don’t know if he caught the bug but I hope so.<\/p>\n It’s no big deal but I like seeing stuff like this.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS – Many readers doubtless already know about the movement afoot to rename birds named after people in an effort to make birding more inclusive. At this point you may already have a strong opinion about it one way another. Or you may still be on the fence. If the movement succeeds the Say’s Phoebe would likely be one of those species assigned a new common name.<\/em><\/p>\n If you’d like to be more informed on the subject I highly recommend reading the following impassioned article written by a Native American who’s been birding for nearly 50 years. As one who has strong feelings about birds, social justice and my own family history (which actually includes deadly encounters with Indians) I found it to be both interesting and enlightening.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/says-phoebe-1495-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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