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Eating Snow


Eating Snow
Photo Information
Copyright: Rick Price (Adanac) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1036 W: 1 N: 3970] (13366)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-03-21
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon Eos 300D Digital Rebel, Canon 100-400/4.5-5.6L IS
Exposure: f/14.0, 1/320 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2007-02-11 4:31
Viewed: 577
Points: 34
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
These Bohemian Waxwings were eating snow for moisture when they were captured.

Bohemian Waxwing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Bombycillidae

Genus: Bombycilla

Species: B. garrulus

The Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) is a member of the waxwing family of passerines. A sleek bird, 8-21 cm long with a pointed crest, it travels in large, nomadic groups with a strong, direct flight. It breeds in coniferous forests throughout the most northern parts of Europe, Asia and western North America. While the Cedar Waxwing inhabits only North America and the Japanese Waxwing lives exclusively in Asia, the Bohemian Waxwing is the only member of this family whose range circumnavigates all the continents just below the sub-Arctic latitudes.

Its English name refers to the bright red bead-like tips of the secondary feathers on its wings, which look like drops of sealing wax, while 'Bohemian' refers to its (presumed) origin from Bohemia (at the time, a relatively unknown but "distant, eastern" place). It is larger and greyer than the Cedar Waxwing and has bright yellow tips on its tail feathers and a yellow or white stripe along the wing feathers. Under tail coverts are a deep rust color. Both beak and feet are dark and the brown eyes are set in a narrow black mask underlined with white.

The preferred nest is usually high in a pine tree but feeding opportunities determine the location ultimately chosen. Each bird or pair may have more than one nest in the same general area. The nests have an outer diameter of 15cm to 18cm and are lined with fine grass, moss, and down. On average, 4 to 6 eggs are laid, the egg shells having a pale bluish color with a heavy sprinkling of blackish spots and some dark, irregular lines. Incubation is around 14 days and the young leave the nest about 13 to 15 days after hatching.

Like other waxwings, its diet consists primarily of berries supplemented by insects, especially during the breeding season.

This species is irruptive, moving in unpredictable migration patterns from year to year, and particularly moving south, often in huge numbers, if the berry supply fails in winter.

The call is a pleasant ringing sound, similar to that of the Cedar Waxwing but lower pitched.

Birds in winter can be very confiding and will come into gardens for berry bushes and trees, a favourite being the rowan.

The generic name Bombycilla, from Latin Bombyx (silk / silk moth) + cilla (tail), is a direct translation of the Swedish name 'Sidensvans', silk-tail, and refers to the silky-soft plumage of the bird; the species name garrulus means 'noisy' or 'quarrelsome'.

The Bohemian Waxwing is also known as the Northern Waxwing, Bohemian Chatterer, and Northern Chatterer.

Waxwings are protected by US Law and may not be kept in captivity.
simon182, pvs, Watershed, nainnain, mogens-j, uleko, Shoot_Score, saeedabbasi, claudine, Argus has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To pvs: GreatAdanac 1 02-11 10:09
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Rick,
Good image in your style.
Bohemian Waxwing...what a name for this beautiful bird.
TFS
Annick

Hi Rick,

Interesting shot. The birds are eating snow for moisture? Must be the equivalent to a slush puppy for us!

So, you've got great exposure here, with the snow not blown out anywhere, it does appear a touch blue though, on my screen anyway. I like that you've included the other bird in the background but kept the front bird the sharpest.

Nice low point of view has given us the feeling of being down there with them. Perhaps a tighter crop to the right might have got rid of some of the unnecessary space.
TFS

Simon

Hi Rick,

A nice picture of a colorfull bird,however imo its a bit underexposed,when shooting in snow it recommendable to use +1 to +1,5 stop exposure compensation (if you shoot in RAW mode,its easier to correct later)

I uploaded a ws

Regards,
Paul

Hi Rick,
Nice photograph with good details! Well Done!
Stéph

bonjour
bonne composition de ces 2 oiseaux sur un fond neigeux.
bien vu
merci du partage
edith

hi rick,
very interesting capture, i was not aware tht birds eat snow too,
lovely colours, good contarst, nicely composed,
tfs & regards
pankaj

Hello Rick

Nice picture of these waxwings. The colours look good as well as the sharpness. I have to agree with Paul about the handling of light. The picture is a little underexposed and Paul did a good WS.

Mogens

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2381 W: 164 N: 7153] (22602)
  • [2007-02-11 9:37]

Hello Rick,
Great capture of these two. We haven't seen much of them here this year probably due to the lack of berries. Nice composition and I like the low vantage point.
Best wishes, Ulla

Hello Rick,

well done, perfect details very crisp icly composed and capture photo, excllent Job, The snowy BG is really awsome

TFs Kyle

  • Great 
  • viv Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 301 W: 3 N: 613] (3062)
  • [2007-02-11 12:58]

Hi Rick,
Great shot of the waxwing the are really beautifull. I have only see them in Sweden high in the trees. You are lucky.
TFS
Vivian

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2007-02-11 18:05]

Hello Rick

A very nice capture of these waxwings.The colours are very nice.Excellent POV,with sharp details in the plumage.TFS

Rob

Rick,

This is a really nice photo! Great composition and detail here.
It look like pvs took care of the exposure, but I'll also add a WS where I've cloned out the couple of blades of grass in front of the first waxwing.

What pretty birds and you are so lucky to have them nearby. I think you might have done a little brightening but selectively so not to blow out any whites. Compositionally I would like a touch more space in the foreground. I do enjoy this photo though.

TFS
Evelynn

Yow Rick, nice capture.

The front bird is sharp with wonderful detail. That includes the lil sprigs of hay sticking out of the snow casting a shadow on the bird. With more DoF the second bird could have also been sharper.

As this is not a photo meant to show silhouettes I find that overal the photo is a wee dark, but that is an easy adjustment to make. I have done a WS to show what I mean. J

PS Deng; Trek-Central has not clicked to Monday yet.,, So my WS quota is spent... L8r...

Hi Rick ,
very nice image.
great details and nice sharpness.
great composition and very well done.
thanks and regards
Saeed

Hello Rick,
Those guys are so beautiful! I never had the chance to see some. Yes, birds eat snow in winter. I saw it many times with Blue Jays, Black-capped Chickadees and many others. This is a very nice capture with good POV and details. I also liked the WS that brings out more punch to the snow and the bird’s colors. Thanks,
Claudine

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2500 W: 132 N: 7109] (22209)
  • [2007-02-13 5:36]

Hi Rick,
Fine capture of these two waxwings with the light toned down a little to reduce the harshness of the snow in a sharp and well-composed presentation.
TFS and best wishes, Ivan

pts later...

Salut Rick

Superbe oiseau , très belle photo bien réussie. Personnellement je n'ai jamais pu photographier un Jaseur. Je te trouves bien chanceux. Bravo.
Les sourires demain

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