I wish I could claim to have photographed this Hooded Vulture in Africa, but in fact I took the photograph in an aviary in the Honolulu Zoo.
EOS 1D MarkIV, 300mm 2.8 L IS + 2X, 1/100", f/7.1, ISO 400, tripod, flash
I wish I could claim to have photographed this Hooded Vulture in Africa, but in fact I took the photograph in an aviary in the Honolulu Zoo.
EOS 1D MarkIV, 300mm 2.8 L IS + 2X, 1/100", f/7.1, ISO 400, tripod, flash
Bill, the bill certainly shows off why these guys can rip apart a carcass in the wild. Not always easy to capture the perfect pose in a zoo, as the BG's are never ideal.
Interesting how long and thin the bill is...these guys must be able to reach pretty far down insinde carcasses! The BG looks blotchy in places, and wish you had a better HA on this guy. You could probably crop away about half the body from the right as it seems to be dominating the frame. Nice colours, and I like the ruffled neck feathers.
Lovely close-up details...I can tell you it's tricky to get this close in the wild.
For interest' sake, every African vulture has a role to play at a carcass. Dumay, Chris, help me if I get them mixed up here. The hooded vulture can typically rip through the skin with ease but with that beak it can only get titbits of flesh for itself. Others come along and eat different parts of the body, the giant Lappet-faced vulture can take care of cracking bones for example.