Red-breasted Nuthatch

[Steve Maxson]

It seems these little guys spend more time upside down than rightside up. :) No sign of spring up here yet. 40D, 300 f/4+1.4X, 1/200, f/6.3, ISO 640, cropped from a horizontal. Comments are welcome.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Ah, the typical head-down nuthatch pose. They're like this so often, yet we do not see many photos of them this way. I like the open bill pose, and also like the tree trunk...nicely textured. Only thing is that I don't really like the open space between tree and edge at right...a personal "rule-of-thumb" I have is to not have these open areas if possible on thicker trees, especially with woodpecker images (and nuthatches in this case). Highly personal of course, but I find it gives a nicer finish to the image.

[Phil Ertel]

A very nice image. The bird is well exposed with with good colors and details. The open beak is a real plus. The tree's colors and textures are also pleasing. I think Daniel's crop makes this a stronger image. Thanks for sharing.

[Maxis Gamez]

Hi Steve,

If you have the pixels, I would crop it like Daniel did. These guys are fast and you did well capturing the bird sharp in the frame.

[Mike Lentz]

I agree with Daniel 100%. Send some of those Red Breasted ones down here!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Nice repost by Daniel and I wholeheartedly agree with his reasoning re: trunk. Wonderful little subject, I feel it could have some more contrast though. What do you think? :)

[Mark Dumbleton]

I really like this image, and the crop Daniel has made does improve the composition alot!
Lovely BG and pose with super colours! Well done