PILEATED WOODPECKER FEEDING

[Marina Scarr]

Had the good fortune to spend a great deal of April photographing a Pileated Woodpecker family with 2 female chicks. It was a challenging shoot and far from home, but I spent time with good friends, made a new friend and learned a lot about photography (esp flash) and these gorgeous creatures, which made it all worthwhile.

Although the nest was in lousy light, it was low and the adults and chicks were unphased by the presence of humans. As the chicks grew older and stronger, they began biting the adults in the chest during feedings. I can only surmise this was due to hunger, but they became quite aggressive. I also witnessed similar behavior with the Red-bellied Woodpeckers. At this point, instead of feeding them head on, the adults began climbing down the side of the tree and feeding them from the side to avoid being bitten, as in this capture. Even when they fed straight on, there wasn't a time with good all-around head angles. This particular image was taken 3 days before the young fledged.

Canon 1D3, Canon 500L & 1.4 TC
F6.3, 1/500sec, ISO 640, manual mode
Flash on but did not fire for this frame
Feisol tripod, Jobu head.

C & C always welcomed and much appreciated.

Marina Scarr
www.marinascarrphotography.com

[Sachin Saraf]

This is an excellent capture...Lucky you...Nice feeding pose and visible eye of both birds is really great..TFS

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Fantastic capture Marina, agree with Sachin comments, superb interaction well done.

[Maya Raut]

I really liked the feeding behavior in this shot…and loved those ruffled feathers of the young one she must be hungry and her Mom/Dad did well to avoid bites…Great job.

[Grace Scalzo]

Wow, Marina, I love this image and your description. What a treat to view.

[rajandesai]

Wow! Must have been fun watching this... Great behavior captured Marina.

[Rachel Hollander]

Marina - great behavioral capture and your time spent observing them really paid off. The comp works well and the bill position and 2 eyes visible really takes this up a notch. Only nit is some of the reds appear hot on my monitor.

TFS,
Rachel

[PhilCook]

Lovely behavioral shot Marina, I do like the little one stretchi9ng out to receive the food, amazing looking birds and sadly a species we don't get here in Oz, reds are a little hot, as reds so often are

[dankearl]

Excellent moment here Marina, I envy the opportunity for this.
About a perfect photo of the scene, for me.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Marina, I like the different angle here, and well timed to capture the feeding moment. Just love how the chick is halfway out the nest eagerly having his food.

[John Ippolito]

Excellent vantage point, and experience, Marina. I also like how the hungry chick is just about to fall out of the cavity! Very well done.

[jack williamson]

Excellent capture Marina! It is great to see both of the bird's eyes and that there is no motion blur in the heads. I have these birds in my area but have been unable to get a decent shot of one much less a parent feeding young. Well done.

Jack