D90; 80-400 VR @ 80mm. ISO 400. f/7.1, 1/500s. -0.3 EV HH. 73% of FF.
The male suitor on the left was performing his foot dance for his intended mate when the one on the right decided to join in the fun, leading to the sparring contest you see here. The female looked on as referee, and eventually seemed to favor the interloper. C&C welcomed and appreciated.
This is excellent, Bill. I love the expression on the female's face. Very nice how the subjects and foreground elements stand out. I'm guessing that you blurred the background? If so, you did some very nice masking around the foreground objects.
Bill, super interaction between all three, and just love how the bird on top is central to the two below. Also great timing to have the two beaks touching on the lower two birds. I havent seen these guys before, so its makes it even more special.
Those expressions are wonderful! The interaction between the three birds really makes this a special image. Nice BG blur - it really puts the emphasis on the birds.
Thank you all for the comments. Yes, David and Jules, I did apply a blur as you noticed -- I think it was about an 8px Gaussian blur on the bg, as well as a slight desaturation of the bg. Thanks for noticing (although I suppose if I had really succeeded in making it look natural, you wouldn't have noticed at all)