Troupial

[Fred Canter]

These birds are difficult to get close to here, after a long time of trying finally was able to get close
Nikon D3s, 600 f/4
f/8, 1/5000, ISO 1600

[Ofer Levy]

Nice image. Shooting angle a bit high but still nice. I can see it as a vertical too.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent capture..I liked both compositions.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

I like the OP better . The plain surroundings help accentuate the stunning beauty of the bird . Nice and sharp . Did you get him on any other delicate perch ??

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like both comps, but the OOF part of the upwards branch kinda bugs me and the repost takes care of that.

Beautiful bird, nice pose and colours. You had enough SS to lower the ISO, but as posted at web size it doesn't look like an issue...

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Nice image and I too like both posts. I am siding with the OP but wonder if it could be cropped a little tighter to remove some of the oof branch but not all?

[Nancy Bell]

I really like the bright clean colors and details of this image. Maybe a crop between the 2 presented?

[Bill Dix]

Very nice pose and a great looking bird. (I just photographed one in the Central Park Zoo; would love to see it in the wild.) I agree that Ofer's vertical crop takes care of the oof vegetation, thus I like the vert better.

[Bill Jobes]

Congratulations, Fred, on achieving the goal of photographing one of these elusive ones.

I favor Ofer's crop, as I couldn't see any reason to keep the OOF leaves to the right.

Beautiful job on capturing the bird's elegant colors.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Beautiful bird and good exposure on the yellows. Very well done. Must have been thrilling.

[Jim Crosswell]

Nice image Fred! I like the colourful bird and pose. I like Ofers repost
.

[Fred Canter]

Thanks everyone. I really like Ofer's post of this shot and will make the adjustment.

I've tried several times in the past to photograph these birds, while I do have photos
this is as close as I've been. These birds are elusive and perch either at tree top level
or deep inside dense branches. This was more luck than skill as I was shooting warblers
when this one landed in the tree top next to me.

Oh, and Daniel you are correct in that I should have dropped the ISO. I had been shooting in a very dark area and just didn't have enough time to make changes. But the D3s handles that ISO level very well.