Acorn Woodpecker (male)

[Mark Schmitt]

There a numbers of these about my property. Very social woodpecker; all members of a group will work as a collective as means of promoting the group; even to the careing of young.

I would like to have the head turned a bit more for eye contact. Played with the thought of removing the lower fork of the perch but descided it would make the perch too contrived.

Location: Wofford Hts. Kern Co., CA.

EXIF: Canon 20D, EF 500 IS L @ f4: 1/400 @ f 7.1; apeture priority mode; metering pattern: ISO 200, Ev comp in camera -.33: fill in flash: Canon 580 EX gun, -1.33, better beamer extender: white bal. custom 5400 K

Work flow: CS2. post process.

[Dan Brown]

Hi Mark. Nice shot! I agree with you about the head turn though. BTW, this is a female Acorn Woodpecker, the male has no black on the forehead, the red extends clear down to the white area above the bill. The female has a "band" of black on the forehead between the red and white, as on your bird here. A trick to remembering this is to think - "the female wears a wedding band", this kind of works for me but I still had to consult my field guide before posting this:D

[Juan Aragonés]

I would prefer a better head turn and the perch seems very plain to my taste but the Bg is excelente and the details on the plumage are fantastic.

[SeanKP]

The only nit I have with this is the head turn but otherwise a simply splendid shot.

Cheers.

Sean

[Joanna Trescott]

The composition is excellent. I think you positioned the limb perfectly. Great BG, too. You know the rest.

[Linda Robbins]

Gorgeous subject, and you are lucky to have these in your yard! I think the limb is fine, however if this is a perch you put up, you might want to use a more mid-toned perch. Nice sharp detail and the bg is pretty. Agree with you that a better head turn would have been desireable, but sounds like you will have lots of opportunities. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your images of these lovely woodpeckers...

[Daniel Cadieux]

Head angle already mentioned. Otherwise I like it alot...wise of you not to eliminate the lower fork of the perch. I would fix the pupil though, seems to have a bit of "steel-eye" going on in there.

[John Chardine]

Beautiful image. Love the colour, sharpness and BG. Head tilted slightly up so that eye is towards you would improve.

As you mention Acorn WP are socially amazing animals. They do appear to work for "the group" but ultimately it is all selfish behaviour as the group is a set of related individuals having many of their genes in common.