Mangrove Cuckoo

This shot of a Mangrove Cuckoo was taken on the Bio Lab Road at MINWR. It was our first sighting of the bird, so the first thing was to find out what it was. The field guide we had left something to be desired, but we finally identified it.

The shot was taken, shortly after 11:00 A.M. with the bird perched facing west, with his head looking north. Due to the time of day, it caused the blowout. The shot was taken handheld and cropped. Due to the size of the bird and fear of loosing the shot if we got closer. He did take off after the shot, when we attempted to move in a little.

Canon EOS 5D - 35-350 L @ 200mm - 1/1600Sec. @ f/10 ISO 640.

Mark

I like the perch and head angle. The angle is quite steep and the image very noisy. Parts of the whites are overexposed. Photographing earlier or later in the day helps with that. The bird looks like a loggerhead shrike to me. Keep them coming!

Thanks, I think your right, now that I found it. We didn't recognize it, as we are new to the area. And had to go more by the beak, in the birds that we researched. Most didn't have the curved beak.

Thanks I will so advise my birder (wife) ; > )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Axel Hildebrandt

I like the perch and head angle. The angle is quite steep and the image very noisy. Parts of the whites are overexposed. Photographing earlier or later in the day helps with that. The bird looks like a loggerhead shrike to me. Keep them coming!

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Very true, this is not a Mangrove Cuckoo.
Keep them coming.