Great-tailed Grackle

[Kerry Perkins]

Captured at the Salton Sea, he was eating the fruit of this palm tree. Mid-morning sun in January so it was low on the horizon and not very bright.

50D, 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.4x TC @ 280mm
f/4 @ 1/1600, ISO 200, WB 5100K
handheld, no flash

[Julie Kenward]

Good view, clarity and detail, kerry. I only wish you could have been on the other side of the plant so that reed wasn't dividing the bird right in half. Minor point but one that definitely detracts from seeing the entire bird. Really nice processing on the blacks and the small bits of the plant on his beak really add to the image!

[John Chardine]

Perfect head angle and eye contact Kerry. The blacks look good. Because the perch is an important part of the image I don't mind it up front and centre so to speak. I do feel it ends rather abruptly at the bottom crop. Not much you can do here unless you can include the whole palm flower.

[Linwood Ferguson]

I agree, the perch is good. These (sorry for anyone who loves them) are such boring birds to photograph that, to me, the situation becomes a key part of any image. A story.