This bird and several like it come to my feeder with male House Finches, so I assume it is a female or maybe a juvenile? Shot today, Santa Rosa CA (60 mi NW of San Francisco).
Canon 5D3, 300mm f/2.8 + Canon 2X (neither the latest). Wimberely head on the big Gitzo. ISO 800, f/14, 1/500 sec. Looks a little overexposed and nothing artistic -- just posting it for ID.
It looks like a female to me. The hallmark of a juvenile is a pair of "airfoils" on the head...a couple sets of fan-like plumes that protrude from both sides of the head. I think some people call them "horns" as well. Juveniles also seem to have a bit more "scruffy" feathers in general...at least all of the ones I've ever seen tended to look a bit "rough and tough" with the airfoils. ;D
GREAT shot, by the way. Love the framing and the boke. Very nice.
Very crisp and sharp. Nice feather detail. Great BG and comp too. Maybe a bit hot all the way around on my monitor. Good looking female house finch. Nice job.
Thanks! I agree it could use some exposure adjustment. Trying to lighten shadows and darken highlights in Lightroom flattens things noticeably. I'll usually go into Photoshop for final touches but don't think I did here. There's nothing very interesting about this one -- sort of a studio portrait. Her bill is even cleaner than most of them.
Hi Diane,
Nice perch and pose.
Great BG and good IQ.
I find the bird a bit big in the frame so would loosen the crop.
I am not sure if you want us to critique the image or not. If this is strictly for ID purposes there is a separate forum for this. It is not as popular as this forum but there is usually always an answer within a few days.
Gail
This does look like a female House finch. You have a great pose here with nice exposure and details. If it were mine, I would add space on top, I would widen the crop and add a little pop of color and you'd have a very nice finished product.
Thanks, everyone! I didn't find the other forum for ID -- I'll look again next time. But C&C always welcome. That perch was almost white, sun-bleached wood. It's toned down here to the point where it starts to look ugly to me (careful masking with a Curves adjustment layer controlling darkening, contrast and color balance). I sprayed it with water which was much better but didn't last, and finally rubbed cooking oil into it which makde it look better. I often use Viveza's control points to touch up areas like that.
Agree the crop is tight -- wanted to maximize detail on the bird for ID. It's not a big crop but there is room to loosen it.
Thanks for the comments and ID. I have a lot to learn about birds!
ID? Female or Juvenile House Finch?
It is not as popular as this forum but there is usually always an answer within a few days.
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