Several tern species, most notably Roseate (and thus the name), often show a pinkish blush to the breast and even the belly as does this Sandwich Tern photographed this morning at Fort DeSoto Park.
Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evalauative metering + 1 1/3 stops: 1/500 sec. at f/8. Fill flash at -1 1/3 stops with Better Beamer.
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Great exposure control and the colors are amazing. Is the pinkish chest also due to early light or breeding plumage? I would love to photograph this species sometime.
It is the first indication of breeding plumage. The crest and the yellows get brighter and more snazzy later on but the pink only lasts a few days at best. There was no light this morning, just fog. The image is a good representation of the color.
I should have mentioned that I did remove an o-o-f head left frame edge and an o-o-f tail right frame edge.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Remarkable! I've never seen that on a Sandwich. Nice meeting you at the NANPA summit and seeing you again at Bosque Del Apache shooting the Shovelers and Pintails from the flight deck.
Nice. Several related species of gulls and terns show this rosy hue in the early part of the breeding season. This is where Roseate Terns get their name but small gulls such as Ross' and several hooded gulls show it too. Sibley says it is related to diet, which maybe answers how they do it, but does not answer the question why? It is hard to imagine that it makes much of a difference to mate choice as it is so subtle (to our eyes anyway, maybe not to the birds') and short-lived. Perhaps it is a result of hormonal changes in the early breeding season that cause certain dietary pigments to be incorporated into newly grown body feathers. I'll see if I can find out more.
I've never seen this pink blush on any tern, probably have never been there at the right time...interesting, really adds to the photo..lovely colors and exposure