View allAll Photos Tagged preening
Good morning everyone. Two weeks ago I posted a video of a Green Heron preening then shortly there after I got an opportunity to video this male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) preening itself. Big difference since the size difference between the two is so dramatic.
As for this bird's tiny size, it's no bigger than your thumb and the average weight for Ruby-throated Hummingbird is just 3 grams. In comparison, a nickel (or five cent coin) weighs 4.5 grams.
During the video, please note how fast the hummingbird's heart is beating, which is clearly evident at the end. The average heart rate for a hummingbird is more than 1,200 beats per minute. In comparison, a human's average heart rate is 60-100 per minute at rest.
One last side note, I apologize for the radio being on when I took this video, which you'll have to bear with for 50 seconds.
Thank you for stopping by...and I hope you have a truly great day and weekend.
Lacey
This Green Heron has most of its adult plumage, but if you look closely at the head you can still see just a few vestiges of juvenile fluff. We watched as it preened and rested at a city park in Overland Park, Kansas.
The Bush Shrike cleaning itself up after having devoured some unidentified prey. The bird was quite comfortable with my presence standing at the kitchen door....!
Here we go again with another fun image from the Flamingo pond. They are just too photogenic when you look at all the animals and birds at the zoo. Probably the only thing that would have got them going any better would be to be feeding them. I was using my 70-200mm f4L for all the shots. It is so darn sharp and grabs focus so nicely but of course it doesn't quite get the great bokeh that the f2.8 gets.On this image I used Perfect Focus. I can tell I'll be using this piece of the suite many more times in the future. There are so many different controls and options that it will take a while to fully test drive.
This adult Tundra Swan (with a greater than usual amount of yellow at the lores) executes a graceful maneuver to preen its neck.
I had stepped to the edge of the pond for another shot and I looked down and she was pretty much at my feet and not bothered by my intrusion. I think they are quite used to people in this park.
This African Great White Pelican was busy preening when I saw him at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park. Of course, I might as well have said he was busy breathing, since a breathing pelican is a preening pelican. How they have time to fish or ever learn to fly is a triumph of time management. I had a long lens on here, and couldn't back up far enough to get its' entire head in the picture, so I went for the abstract.
Others of my pelican pictures can be seen in my Pelicans set. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157627164905505/...
Like most photographs, it looks best large. Press "L" if you'd like to see it that way. You probably won't regret it.
Other pictures taken at Safari Park are here. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157628351207247/...
A close-up shot of a Scarlet Macaw preening one of its tiny feathers with its massive beak.
Featured in this fine gallery: www.flickr.com/photos/141411788@N02/galleries/72157684573...
Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) preening in a shallow pond.
The photo was taken at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary near Vancouver.
This image is the exclusive property of its author, Roger P. Kirchen, and is protected by Canadian and international copyright laws. The use of this image, in whole or in part, for any purpose other than the private online viewing, including, but not limited to copying, reproduction, publication (including web sites and blogs), "hotlinking", storage in a retrieval system (other than an internet browser as part of its normal operation), manipulation and alteration (digital or otherwise), transmission in any form or by any means (such as, but not limited to: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, photographing, recording) is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission by Roger P. Kirchen.
All artistic and moral rights of the author are hereby asserted. Copyright © by Roger P. Kirchen. All Rights Reserved.
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Native American dancer preening the feathers of his headdress in preparation for the Hoop Dance. Native American Encampment, Pioneer Day Celebration, North Park, Provo, Utah County, Utah. HAPPY PIONEER DAY!
This bald eagle very much knew I was watching but also clearly did not feel threatened.
We saw more bald eagles in the Thorofare this year than on my previous two trips. I hope that means that the cutthroat trout population is returning to the Upper Yellowstone River. This one was at the confluence of Mountain Creek and the Upper Yellowstone River.