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Guineafowl


Guineafowl
Photo Information
Copyright: Jacqueline Schnepp (Noisette) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1714 W: 4 N: 2351] (7821)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2010-08-29
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 350D, 55-200mm f/4-5.6GED-IF AF-S DX VR Zoom N
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/400 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2010-08-31 9:20
Viewed: 3532
Points: 51
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
hello All

this sunday i was with friends in " parc animalier de Sainte-Croix", this park is not a zoo, each species have a large territory in their natural habitat, it was founded from a great nature lover and his wife, the only problem is, sometimes the animals are on the other end of the territory and are not visible, or only from far

the most of the animals are or was from our region and a few are imported species

in this parc is also a farm with domestical animals like donkeys, pigs, sheeps and also goats for the great pleasure of the children who can going into their enclosure to caress them

my next posts are all taken in this park, i hope you will like them, all are not perfect, it was a sunny but cloudy day, it was difficult to adjust the camera between the light and the shadow and also the POV was not always perfect

i had preferd not to have the other birds in the BG but it was imossible to do

Helmeted Guineafowl

The Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida. It breeds in Africa, mainly south of the Sahara, and has been widely introduced into the West Indies and southern France.
It breeds in warm, fairly dry and open habitats with scattered shrubs and trees such as savanna or farmland. The nest is a well-hidden, generally unlined scrape and a clutch is normally 6-12 eggs which the female incubates for 26-28 days. Nests containing larger numbers of eggs are generally believed to be the result of more than one hen using the nest; eggs are large and an incubating bird could not realistically cover significantly more than a normal clutch. Domestic birds at least, are notable for producing extremely thick-shelled eggs that are reduced to fragments as the chicks hatch, rather than leaving two large sections and small chips from where any chick has removed the end of the egg. The chicks are cryptically coloured and rapid wing growth enables them to flutter onto low branches barely a week after hatching. These guineafowl live as long as 12 years in the wild.

The Helmeted Guineafowl is a large (53-58 cm) bird with a round body and small head. They weigh about 1.3 kg. The body plumage is gray-black spangled with white. Like other guineafowl, this species has an unfeathered head, in this case decorated with a dull yellow or reddish bony knob, and red and blue patches of skin. The wings are short and rounded, and the tail is also short. Various sub-species are proposed, differences in appearance being mostly a large variation in shape, size and colour of the casque and facial wattles.

This is a gregarious species, forming flocks outside the breeding season typically of about 25 birds that also roost communally. Guineafowl are particularly well-suited to consuming massive quantities of ticks, which might otherwise spread lyme disease. These birds are terrestrial, and prone to run rather than fly when alarmed. Like most gallinaceous birds, they have a short-lived explosive flight and rely on gliding to cover extended distances. Helmeted Guineafowl are great runners, and can walk 10 km and more in a day. They make loud harsh calls when disturbed. Their diet consists of a variety of animal and plant food; seeds, fruits, greens, snails, spiders, worms and insects, frogs, lizards, small snakes and small mammals. Guineafowl are equipped with strong claws and scratch in loose soil for food much like domestic chickens, although they seldom uproot growing plants in so doing. As with all of the numididae, they have no spurs.

In the early days of the European colonisation of North America, the native Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) was confused with this species. This led to the English name of the American bird, since Turkey and Guinea were equally far-off and exotic places. The word meleagris, Greek for guineafowl, is also shared in the scientific names of the two species, although for the guineafowl it is the species name, whereas for the turkey, it is the name of the genus and (in an altered state) the family.

Domestication

Helmeted Guineafowl is often domesticated, and it is this species that is sold in Western supermarkets.
horias, Argus, Alex99, Miss_Piggy, siggi, rousettus, ramthakur, Csabesz68, haraprasan, CeltickRanger, ferranjlloret, goldyrs, boreocypriensis, oscarromulus, Dis. Ac., uleko, maurydv has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Aleks: Hello AleksNoisette 1 10-31 15:29
To PeterZ: hello PeterNoisette 1 08-31 16:14
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • horias Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 837 W: 58 N: 2084] (11033)
  • [2010-08-31 9:26]

Hi Jacqueline
Great shot of this lovely birds!
Wonderful colors and details!
The head resembles a turkey head!
I like it!
Horia

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5038 W: 260 N: 15594] (50626)
  • [2010-08-31 9:52]

Hello Jacqueline,
Nice capture of a Helmeted Guineafowl taken from a fine POV with excellent sharpness and colours against an OOF Bg that includes some of his friends. Nicely composed too.
Thanks and have a good évening,
Ivan

  • Great 
  • lousat Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 6595 W: 89 N: 15659] (65489)
  • [2010-08-31 10:13]

Salut Jacqueline,finalement tu as pu sortir pour capturer des nouvelles photos! Quels details des plums aussi dans une journee' sans soleil,et aussi les autres derriere sont la meilleure chose pour creer une belle composition et perspective..et finalement je peu ne dire pas seulement bonne nuit mais une tres belle soiree' aussi..ehehhe....merci et a demain! LUCIANO

Ciao Jacqueline, beautiful Guineafowl in nice pose, lovely composition with other OOF in BG, good natural colors and splendid sharpness, very well done my friend, ciao Silvio

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5137 W: 166 N: 13121] (49139)
  • [2010-08-31 10:24]
  • [+]

Hello Jacqueline,
Very good photo of this Helmeted Guineafowl. Didn't know it was introduced in Southern France. Excellent sharpness, details and low POV. Beautiful natural colours and composition.
Regards,
Peter

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4072 W: 133 N: 7096] (23735)
  • [2010-08-31 10:34]

Hi Jacqueline.
First of all I congratulate you on a birth of the grandson. It is a great event. Let all your family will be happy. Second, you have shared a first-class image of a nice bird. I am impressed with 3D look of the shot, with excellent sharpness and details of the main character and grass and a pleasant a bit smoothed BG. Well done and TFS.
Alexei.

Ciao Jaqueline. Interesting graphic effects fro this cute friend. Very good details.

Roberto

Hallo Jacqueline
You captured this Helmeted Guineafowl very well, showing all the beautiful colours to its best, and highlighted even better against the green grass as backdrop and natural frame. The detailed patterns and markings on the plumage is very eye-catching. I agree with you on the statement about the other birds in the background. That is however a tiny nit, that I ignore and focus on the beauty of the lovely Guineafowl itself. Thanks for sharing.
Anna

  • Great 
  • siggi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3097 W: 109 N: 12399] (52850)
  • [2010-08-31 13:18]

Hello Jaqueline.
Wonderful shot of this gorgeous Helmeted Guineafowl with amazing colours, details and markings on its plumage and head.very good lighting and exposure and I like the pose you have captured it in.Best regards Siggi

merhaba Jacqueline
I also saw pretty Guineafowl in parks. I'd like to see it in Africa. you nicely captured this beautiful looking and handsome plumaged bird, with a nice focus and POV. white and tiny spots show it very beautiful. light using and exposure very nice as like coloration and eyes contact. thanks for sharing. best regards
Ahmet

These are some very interesting birds, Jacqueline.
The one in the foreground and in focus looks so cute with its typical comic face.
Thanks and regards.
Ram

Hi Jacqueline!
Excellent capture of this beauty, with great POV, good composition, natural colors and very good details.
TFS.
cs.

hello Jacqueline
very nice composition with good sharpness and beautiful colours
greeting lou

Hi Jacqueline,
A lovely capture of this beautiful Guineafowl. Very well composed shot with sharp details. Thanks a lot for sharing.

bonjour Jacqueline

une excellente photo de cette Pintade prise par
un excellent POV et cadrage, excellent focus
netteté et détails de son joli plumage, TFS

Asbed

Hola Jacqueline

Vaya, esta ave no la había bisto antes, es muy original con ese punteado en su cuerpo. Bien tomada, perfecta composición y nitidez. Esperamos las siguientes....


Un saludo de Antonio

Hi, Jacqueline,
It is nice to see these elegant Guineafowl.
Best regards,
Ferran

Salut Jacqueline
quelle magnifique cette macro, couleurs et netteté parfaite, bon focus
C'est une trčs belle capture, détaillée dans une bonne composition.
bravo++++ et merci a toi
Goldy

Dear my friend Jacqueline, since i am in journey, i have limited time for connection! Sorry for short comment!
Awesome capture of these lovely helmeted Huineafowls MF!
TFS and TC!
Cheers,

Bayram

Jacqueline, hello,
Beautifully presented.
Very sharp. Focused to the T.
The colours are OUTSTANDING.
Re: its friends in the B/G ... you could have "cropped" them out and clonned out the other parts. Your focusing job is so great that the crop is warranted.
Best regards from Canada,
Mario.
P.S. Will do a fast job on the W/S today; have to visit my sister-in-law.
But you will get the idea. If you want I can re-fine the W/S tomorrow.

Hello Jaqueline,

Great shot with good deepthworking through unsharp birds.
Good pov and details and sharpness.
Fine colours.

Gert

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3396 W: 172 N: 3310] (10940)
  • [2010-09-05 10:51]

Hello Jacqueline,
Great focus on this beautiful Guineafowl with its impressive plumage. Very fine sharp details and beautiful colours. A pity that his friends wouldn't move but it's still very nice.
TFS and best wishes, Ulla

Hello Jacqueline,
Beautiful shot of this cute bird with lovely poses.
Great composition.
TFS and regards,
Bahadır

Hallo Jacqueline,
a beautiful picture of the Helmeted Guineafowl, very good sharpness and splendid natural colours, very good low POV and nice composition
TFS
Best regards
Maurizio

  • Great 
  • foozi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2791 W: 0 N: 6696] (25839)
  • [2010-09-20 23:57]

Hello Jacqueline,
excellent composition in agood view and sharpness. The stance and the pose of the fowl is lively and you have captured it at the right moment.

Regards,
Foozi

  • Good 
  • Aleks Silver Star Critiquer [C: 31 W: 0 N: 14] (14)
  • [2010-10-31 0:39]
  • [+]

Hi Jacqueline,
I like the composition of this photo. The colours are good, it could have been a bit sharper on the head of the bird and I might have experimented a bit with cutting a bit more off the bottom and allowing a bit more room on the top.

Thanks for sharing

Aleks

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