It may be Spring somewhere,

but it hasn't quite arrived in the mountains of Idaho.
This red crossbill was photographed with a Nikon D300, 200-400 mm lens at 400, f/4, ISO 1250, 1/800 sec.
He was feeding with about a dozen of his friends at a feeder.
Sarah

The crop is a little square-ish for my taste. I would prefer more room on the left. It is however, a beautiful portrait. Not sure about whether you may have clipped the highlights with the bright snow? I do love the little snowflakes on his feathers and the detail in the feathers themselves. :)

Lovely bird! Nice colors and details in the feathers. The snow really shows off the bird. I also like the little bit of snow on the bird's head. I also agree that this is a bit tight in frame for my taste. If you have it a little more room in front and on top might help.

Thanks for sharing

I agree it is a little tight, but the detail is very nice.

Nice bird. Good EXP. Shadows could go a bit lighter. Lightening the iris with a QM would give the bird more life. Absolutely needs more room top and both sides. Try to keep whole birds less than 75% of the longest dimension at most.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I've expanded the space and attempted to lighten shadows and eye highlights.

Wow, that is 1000 times better. You might want to loose the two big o-o-f snowflakes in the ulc. Just looked again, make that 10,000 times better.

For the repost I lost those two big snowflakes, cleaned the bill, and lightened the iris. The iris (as well as all the other middle and dark tones) was underexposed because you exposed properly for the snow.... Whites (and light tones) need less light to be properly exposed than middles or darks.

Thanks again. Another great Artie's rule about the 75%. I love snow, but it is a challenge.

A very nice shot but it does need more room all around. The snow is a little hot too.