Tailless Song Sparrow

[Joel Arrington]

Canon 40D, Manual, 1/50 @ f/5.0, ISO 400, 70-200 f/2.8 @ 200 mm, flash fill

I don't know if this bird lost its tail to a predator or if the species moults, but in winter? It surely can't be a juvenile at this time of year?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Nice pose, perch and complementing BG. It is a bit tight in the frame for me and it seems a bit oversharpened. I might clone out the OOF branch in the lower left.

[Fabs Forns]

What a face!!! The pose seems to make the head so prominent in relation the the body. Nice colors, agree on cloning the OOF branch.

[Tim Kuhn]

Nice clean photo of a common bird. NIce exposure. I have scrub jay nearby without a tail. I don't know how they fly like that.

Tim

[Anita Rakestraw]

Gotta admire the patterns in the feathering of this little guy even if he is basically a "common" little sparrow! Your detail is great and so is the complementing perch and background. I suspect he lost his tail making a narrow escape from a predator; while birds do molt, they rarely lose all their tail feathers at the same time while molting. I have seen birds instantly shed ALL their tail feathers, however, to avoid being caught.