Steve Maxson
01-30-2009, 12:11 PM
I recently spent some time on Sanibel Island where the beach birds are habituated to people and are very tame. I had the opportunity to take many photos of snowy plovers so I thought I would put together a very brief tutorial on body language. Snowy plovers have very expressive body language, if you know what to look for, and therefore make a good subject for this demonstration. Not all birds have body language this expressive, but the general principles should still apply. My intent is to help folks understand and interpret what they are seeing.
Photos A, B, and C were taken from a distance of about 20 feet.
Photo A: A relaxed bird. Note how the body feathers are fluffed out giving it almost a puff-ball look. The wings are tucked into the side pockets of belly feathers, and the eye is not open to its fullest extent.
Photo B: An alert bird - a little bit wary. Note the body feathers are not fluffed out as much as in Photo A. The wings are out of the side pockets, and the eye is bigger and rounder.
Photo C: The same bird as in Photo B, but a few seconds later. A dog is on the beach some 50 yards away and the bird is alarmed. The bird is crouched down for concealment on the open beach and is also ready to spring into flight. The body feathers are sleeked tight against the body - note how different the head shape is compared to Photos A & B. Also, the eye has become relatively huge as the bird focuses its senses on the predator.
I find that photography is more enjoyable when I know some of the biology. To that end, I hope this helps some of you. :)
Photos A, B, and C were taken from a distance of about 20 feet.
Photo A: A relaxed bird. Note how the body feathers are fluffed out giving it almost a puff-ball look. The wings are tucked into the side pockets of belly feathers, and the eye is not open to its fullest extent.
Photo B: An alert bird - a little bit wary. Note the body feathers are not fluffed out as much as in Photo A. The wings are out of the side pockets, and the eye is bigger and rounder.
Photo C: The same bird as in Photo B, but a few seconds later. A dog is on the beach some 50 yards away and the bird is alarmed. The bird is crouched down for concealment on the open beach and is also ready to spring into flight. The body feathers are sleeked tight against the body - note how different the head shape is compared to Photos A & B. Also, the eye has become relatively huge as the bird focuses its senses on the predator.
I find that photography is more enjoyable when I know some of the biology. To that end, I hope this helps some of you. :)