View allAll Photos Tagged preening
Preening is a maintenance behaviour found in birds that involves the use of the beak to position feathers, interlock feather barbules that have become separated, clean plumage, and keep ectoparasites in check.
textures thanks to Ellenvd for texture9
www.flickr.com/photos/41904174@N06/5316485975/in/set-7215...
and to Brenda Starr for texture259
Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. To perform this difficult office it is sometimes necessary for him to sacrifice happiness and everything that makes life worth living for the ordinary human being. --Carl Jung
This Cattle Egret was preening by its nest waiting for the return of its mate. Taken at Wakodahatchee Wetlands.
Canon EOS 7D Mark II, EF400mm f/5.6L USM, f/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 640.
Preening their large bodies requires much time in a pelican's day. Their huge feathers require much attention to keep oiled and to maintain their shape and condition. That long neck and huge beak seems ill fitted for dexterous preening, but they're quite acrobatic in reaching all parts of their bodies!
Last summer about 100 pelicans stayed for 5 weeks at our lakefront before moving on to new territories. I spent hours photographing them and observing their habits and behavior.
It was a real treat to experience.
I work first shift so I would wait till evening fell with its soft light before going down to the lakeshore to observe them. This particular evening was unique in that the sky in the background over Lake Michigan was a soft pink and it stayed that way for quite a while. Perfect for wildlife photography!
From a line in one of my movies .... "it's a grunge thing" speaking of his hair.... LOL
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Late afternoon yesterday, 22 April 2015, after a volunteer shift, I called in at a local park to see the Great Horned Owl family. I hadn't been over there for a week, so I was curious to see if much had changed with them. Not a whole lot, though Mom, like Dad, was perched in a nearby Spruce tree. With Great Horned Owls, the adults tend to be sitting still for most of the daytime hours, so it's always a treat when one of them actually moves, even if it's just a minute or two of preening.
This is Mom in my photo. She is a busy Mom with three young ones to care for. Dad has always been sitting in one of the nearby trees, keeping careful watch over his mate and owlets. He has been hunting at night and bringing food to the rest of his family. As owlets get bigger and bigger, the female tends to leave the nest to hunt for food, too. Females are larger than males, so can catch larger, heavier prey to feed to her quickly growing young ones.
"With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It’s one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics.
Great Horned Owls are nocturnal. You may see them at dusk sitting on fence posts or tree limbs at the edges of open areas, or flying across roads or fields with stiff, deep beats of their rounded wings. Their call is a deep, stuttering series of four to five hoots." From AllAboutBirds.
At high tide, the shorebirds flew up to the sand dune for a well-deserved rest. Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus) walking around to find the perfect spot, then preening and settling down for a nap. Puerto Penasco, Mexico. 6 February 2016.
Juvenile Kingfisher preening, very close at 0620am, in the shade of a Public Hide, in Suffolk.
Please note this is the centre section, of the full frame, no saturation, sharpening or noise reduction have been added.
Nikon D500 + Nikon 600mm F4 VR
This time of year (during breeding season), it is so important to look your best...better work on that hair!
anyone who has been following me for over a year now may remember my shot “puffin bokehlicious!” (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecbrown145flick/4725567864/) from last year
having seen the effect the sea gave this place last time, i couldn’t not try to recreate it this time!
stunning puffins, having a preen and enjoying the sunshine!
have a great weekend!
(PLEASE NO AWARDS OR PICTURES OR FLASHY BADGES)