As you know already these birds move quite fast when they are feeding, when I downloaded this image to my computer and saw that I caught one with an insect in its bill, I jumped in joy :). Chose to crop this to 50% from original.
Great suggestions from above. Excellent exposure and detail and I love the moment you captured in this image. Look forward to seeing more and thanks for sharing.
I like the full version better although the cropped version shows the feeding more clearly. Head angle ideally should have been more toward you but you take what you get! Overall the image has many excellent features including sharpness and detail, lighting, water and BG. I might have cropped some off the bottom because the reflection is not very strong. This would have brought the centre-line of the bird below that of the image itself.
I work on phalaropes. At sea on migration phalaropes eat crustaceans called copepods. They are small (about 1-3 mm long) but are very energy rich. Phalaropes are remarkable for several reasons and this image illustrates one of them. They rapidly pick the copepods one at a time but the problem is this- how do you get the item into your mouth when it is held at the tip of the bill, and how do you do this quickly? The phalarope's solution as this image shows so well, is to hold the single prey item in a drop of water, then slightly open the bill. This causes the drop of water and the food item to travel up the bill, driven by the surface tension of the water. All this happens very quickly and it needs to be quick so that the bird can seize the next prey item. This feeding technique is unique among birds and was discovered by Margaret Rubega, an American ornithologist and phalarope enthusiast.
I prefer the full frame version of this excellent image. But since the feeding behavior you captured is so unique, I think you should do two versions....this one and a tight vertical.
John, thank you for the fascinating information on this bird's feeding habits. It made the image even more interesting!
John, very very interesting information on the phaloropes. Makes bird photography even more better. Thanks for sharing it. I also notice that they go on circular motion while feeding to create a spiral under the water which helps bring these crustaceans to the surface so they can feed on them. Amazing bird!
The spinning they do to bring food to the surface is another amazing behaviour. They only do it when needed as it costs energy. In my study area where tidal upwellings bring food to the surface they don't need to spin so they don't. In Arctic ponds where they breed, they have to spin to get the food to within their reach. I assume your image was from the San Fran Bay area?
Red-necked Phalarope
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