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Pied Kingfisher


Pied Kingfisher
Photo Information
Copyright: Paul van Slooten (pvs) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1127 W: 254 N: 3161] (14464)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-02-23
Categories: Birds
Camera: Sony Alfa dSLR A100, Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX APO DG, Digital RAW 100, UV Filter
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/640 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Travelogue: Krugerpark feb/mar 2007
Theme(s): !Birds of a Feather, Kruger National Park 1 [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-03-13 4:46
Viewed: 4530
Points: 46
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
They have black and white plumage.It is a medium-sized bird.Male has black crest and crown, a white stripe above the eye, a black larger stripe across the eye extending on nape, and white throat and collar. Upperparts are black with white edges giving a mottled aspect. Rump is streaked black and white.We can see white spots on the wing coverts. Underparts are white, finely barred with two black lines, the higher being broader and often broken in the middle.Bill is black, long and similar to a dagger. Eyes are dark brown. Legs and feet are blackish.Female has only one breast band, narrower than male and also broken in the middle.Young resembles female, but it has complete breast band, rather greyish black than black. It has some blackish "scales" on the white areas, and on head, neck and throat.In flight, the fanned tail is rather long, white, with black median tail feathers and tips.
Hand is black, with broad white spot at primary base.
They live close to the water, near large rivers, in estuaries, close to small and large lakes, coastal lagoons, on rocky and sandy coasts, close to fresh or brackish water tanks. It needs perches close to water, as trees, fences, posts and others.They have complex behaviour. As in many tropical birds, breeding pair has several non breeding birds as helpers, until up to four. They sometimes are the young of the previous year, but they may are completely exterior to the pair family. This system makes it possible raising the greatest number of young within the colony, in spite of the environment. It nests alone or in colonies, usually less of 20 nests.It fishes by watching for preys from a perch, bobbing head and flicking tail, and then by diving into the water making shower of water, and appearing again with its stabbed prey in the bill. It also may hover before to dive, just time to locate prey.When back on its perch, it strikes the prey against the support in order to stun it, then, it returns it before to swallow.Seasonal dispersions are abundant, but it is mainly according to the food resources, rather regular migrations.They can hover when searching for prey above water. That allows it to hunt over large water surfaces, being the only kingfisher able to move away from the shores. Usually, it performs a rather slow flight, often high above the water, before diving to catch its prey.Their nest is dug in an earthy bank, above water, occasionally in a flat and grassy ground. Pair digs the burrow which sizes about one metre in depth.Female lays 4 to 5 white glossy eggs. Incubation lasts about 18 days, shared by both adults. During nest's digging, laying and incubation, male displays and feeds female. It also takes part in raising chicks before they fledge. Young remain at nest about three weeks.They reach their sexual maturity at one year.They feed mainly on fish, aquatic insects, crabs and crayfish, frogs and molluscs.
greenpinkorange, JORAPAVI, Adanac, deud, jcoowanitwong, Alex99, jaycee, Altair, Necipp, dew77, Juyona, Shoot_Score, horia, stevkds, nainnain has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To ellis49: thankspvs 1 03-16 12:42
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Paul,
Good picture of this kingfisher. Nice pose and the blacks are well exposured that i can see details still. Well Done!
Steph

Hola Paul,
Excelente toma, la nitidez y detalle son excelentes. Un cordial saludo

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1273 W: 1 N: 6188] (21378)
  • [2007-03-13 6:54]

Hello Paul,
Great capture of this very striking fellow, Your exposure is spot on giving us nice details, thanks for sharing.
Rick

  • Great 
  • Zeno Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 483 W: 0 N: 1345] (10867)
  • [2007-03-13 7:48]

Ha Paul,

Mooie kingfisher. Ik heb ze tijdens mijn bezoek in Zuifd-Afrika ook heel veel gezien. Het mooie is dat ze niet zo schuw zijn en dat je ze dicht kunt naderen.
Scherpe foto en een typische ijsvogelhouding.

groet,
Zeno.

  • Great 
  • deud Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 438 W: 11 N: 534] (2540)
  • [2007-03-13 10:37]

great presentation - photo and note! great focus on subject, colors. good job. tfs

Hello Paul,
Beautiful Kingfisher well presented. Love this small bird. I never have a close look at real one. This one is lovely with black and white plumage. TFS this fine image.
JC

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4072 W: 133 N: 7096] (23735)
  • [2007-03-13 12:06]

Hi Paul.
Amazing and highest quality picture. You have reflected all beauty of this wonderful bird perfectly. Composition and cropping are simply perfectly as well as the exposure, POV and sharpness. Perfect done and TFS.
Alexei.

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2454 W: 10 N: 8044] (25460)
  • [2007-03-13 12:09]

Hi Paul,

This Kingfisher is so cute. He looks like he is smiling. Love the black and white, the pose, the details - but especially his expression.

Jane

Hello Paul,
What a cute little guy with its so big head! Those little ones always look disproportionate with their head that are bigger than their bodies :-) Details are very sharp and I like this composition and POV. This is a very nice post. Well done!
Claudine

Hi Paul,
Nice composition and very sharp! Fine light, it´s a very fine capture. TFS.

Regards, Peter

Wow what an excellent capture I still have yet to catch a decent kingfisher needs more patience than I have, well composed good pov and superb details technically very good tfs rgds necip

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4432 W: 248 N: 4028] (13270)
  • [2007-03-13 16:30]

Hello Paul,
Very nice capture.POV,clear details,sharpness and pose of bird are wonderful.
TFS..:-)

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5137 W: 166 N: 13121] (49139)
  • [2007-03-13 16:55]

Hello Paul,
Another beautiful shot. Specially I like the soft light on the bird. Through that the colours show full advantage. Is the BG a natural colour? It match wonderful with the colours of the bird.
Fantastic!
Regards,
Peter

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor [C: 2232 W: 10 N: 2971] (16891)
  • [2007-03-13 18:29]

Hola Paul.
muy original esta ave,
gello plumaje y excelentes detalles,
buena compo. saludos amigo

What a "pipe" on this pied one eh! Almost a b&w shot.
Marvelous compo with that triangle at the bottom.
The bird is on the money, small nit is that its tail is starting to be outside the sharp area where the wall is blurred also < DoF >. Great expression.

How big would you say is that spear? Tfs, Jay

  • Great 
  • horia Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2158 W: 224 N: 4749] (16656)
  • [2007-03-14 6:41]

Hi Paul

Another amazing capture from you!
This really is a wonderul looking bird and you managed to catch it so well and to focus all the viewer's attention on it.
The details everywhere (beak, eye, plumage) are really nice and the colors are lovely and well saturated.
Excellent contrast with the BG as well as exposure.
A charming composition and presentation!

Bravo and TFS
Horia

  • Great 
  • viv Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 292 W: 3 N: 653] (3317)
  • [2007-03-14 7:43]

Hi Paul,
Great shot of this kingfisher, this time I did not see them, it is sharp and full of details.
Great job.
Vivian

  • Great 
  • manyee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3089 W: 230 N: 6774] (23770)
  • [2007-03-14 11:10]

A striking-looking bird, Paul.
Very dramatic patterns and color contrast on that black and white plumage.
Good POV and sharp details.
TFS. : )

Hi paul.

Nice shot, excellent composition. Good DOV..
Well done. tfs.Stev

Hej Paul,
a beautiful picture of this kingsfisher.
Our kingsfisher is on my wish list.
It's almost a B/W picture and it's really nice with good details and very nice compostion.
Well done.

hello
cet oiseau parait bien a l' aise et semble etre assis
bravo, super photo, belles couleurs nettes, bons détails
bien amicalement
edith

Witaj Paul!
Przesliczny ptak. Wspaniala jakosc zdjęcia. Ostrosc, kolory i kadr: WOW! Sceneria i kadr mistrzowskie.
Gratulacje i pozdrowienia - Roma

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2234 W: 188 N: 1912] (8073)
  • [2007-03-18 8:08]

Hi Paul,
great shot, I like the diagonal composition a lot. Amazing clear details and the sharpness is superp. Very well done.
Sky

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