What a mouth! (Pelican courtship display)

1D Mark IV, Canon 800 f5.6, 1/1250, f13, iso 640, tripod, full Wimberely

Another one from my last visit at the breeding colony. They keep opening their beaks displaying the intense colours. I have been trying to get a decent image for quite some time. Not that easy as it only lasts for 2-3 seconds and you never know who is going to perform amongst all the hundreds birds. Cropped more than what I am usually happy with and I had to remove another bird from the BG.
My friend sent me this link when he saw the photo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMF2paM-aCw&sns=em

A truly impressive capture, Ofer. I really like that one has his beak open and one not and that they are in such proximity. It doesn't seem as though the image has suffered much with the crop you mention. Good for you for capturing the behavior you've been envisioning.

The crop doesn't show except a tad bit of noise/sharpening around the beak. It is just a really cool image.
Wonderful birds you have to photograph and F13 was a good call for this.

A pair of opera singers by the look of it, nice combination of color Ofer and comical pose. Have hundreds of these birds near my place, but the only breeding colonies are on the Coorong about 200klms away, and strictly no access allowed, and love these birds, such characters and I've actually had the pleasure of hand rearing several.

Superb capture, Ofer. Great head angles on both, and congrats on getting that defining display moment. Super IQ, don't see that it's suffered at all from the crop. These are comical yet stunningly beautiful birds. So great to know that such strange and wonderful creatures still exist in this world.

sweet shot....love the colors and yes they do look like opera singers....not familiar with that type pelican....a type indigenous to Aus?

"A wonderful bird is the Pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week!
But I'll be darned if I know how the hellican?"

Edward Lear

Fabulous image Ofer, almost cartoon like if you know what I mean:bg3:

Amazing colors, great compostion! Preserving the highlight detail makes this image extra special.

Nice whites. Love the look of the two of them and the open bill of the bird on the right.

Beautiful image, love the opposing pose and the details on the interior of the beak.

sweet shot Ofer love the pose

Ofer - congrats on achieving the image you envisioned for so long. It works extremely well with the two heads, one open mouth, color and detail.

TFS,
Rachel

loved the open mouth pose.. also the blend of blue and green BG looks awesome..

Hi Ofer,
I keep coming back to this image.
I just love it.
I really like how they are positioned at 45 degrees to one another and the "Ying Yang" thing going on with open mouth and closed mouth.
The colors and eyes make me smile. Whites couldn't be better exposed.
I think you should send this to Disney or Pixar Films so they can model an animated character after this pelican!
Gail

Wow, I didnt expect that when i opened the thumbnail. That is very cool Ofer. What amazing expressive faces they have. I really like both head angles and expressions.

Funny, I had the same thought as did Gail...there's something almost cartoonish and comical about these characters. It's just a superb image, well done by you!

Brilliant stuff Ofer, love the colors in the BG and cool looking birds well done.

Lovely Capture,Ofer. The expression of the Pelican with the mouth Open and the Other showing Contentment & Naughtiness,is priceless.:bg3:

Outstanding Ofer, and what a pelican! I wonder if a tad more room at the top would be in order?

This is not critique, but I can't resist posting a Northern Gannet doing a "gular stretch" just as your bird appears to be doing. Pelicans and gannets are as you know related. In gannets it is a very transient behaviour as well, and is very hard to capture. Gannets do it on their own and it does not appear to be courtship behaviour in that species. Do your pelicans only do this in the context of a pair?

Thanks for your comments guys!
John, this is an interesting point! I am not really an expert in pelican's behaviour but I can tell they perform this mouth opening behaviour as well as displaying the size and colours of their beaks mostly as part of the courtship display. Right after they lay the eggs - the colours disappear and they hardly perform this behaviour.

Beautiful portrait, great details and sharpness.

Marvelous birds. Really an amazing portait with stunning colors.