Anybody home?

This picture was taken at a feeder when the light was very low. I did use the flash with quite some strength. I like the expression. Almost as if he is looking trough the window to see what is going on inside. I like the separation of the bird against the black background.
I think I have an issue with back focusing with my camera/lens combination. Like on this picture, the focal point is about 1/2 inch behind (feathers on the lower chest). I have a D200, I guess there is not much I can do with that, If you have any idea, please let me know.

ISO 1000
300mm f/2.8 Sigma + 2X TC
1/640 f/7.1

I like the crop idea and agree that the critical focus is not on the eyes. Do you only have the central focus point activated and focused on the eye? If so, you might have to send it in to get it adjusted. I don't use Nikon but assume the D200 has no micro adjustment.

Love the colours against the black BG. The best suggestion I can make is to get a D300 :D. It is a quantum leap in terms of focus (speed, accuracy, and individual lens fine tuning if needed) to the point that I now wonder how I used to work with the D200 when I go backto it (it seemed very good at the time though). If you have a significant other that needs convincing I will send a doctor's note that it will be good for your health:D:D

Rene, in cases like this one I think that more distance between the subject and the lens is the way to go because the increased DOF and increased composition possibilities. If you want a full frame filling portrait you should have to crop for sure but I prefer to crop than to have a full frame OOF bird portrait. I am not sure that the problem here is due to backfocus but to subject proximity. If the bird were paralel to the focal plane is easy to keep critical areas, like the eye, in focus. But, if the bird is not paralel to the focal plane (like in this example) it is very difficult to keep focus right where you want.

Hi Rene - agree with all of the suggestions above - the other of course is to keep in mind what the minimum distance that your lens will focus to - if you want to focus closer you would need to add a extension tube.
looking forward to more :)