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Blue Grosbeak (male)
digishooter

Blue Grosbeak (male) (Passerina caerulea)

A migrant species that comes into the valley to breed. The male, obviously, is a real photo-op. This was taken at Tilley Creek Campgrounds, in Wofford Heights. In this image the plumage is a little worn. I should have gone out about a week earlier to get the bird in it's finest.
When nesting, it sometimes uses snakeskin as nesting material, which is thought to thwart predators.
A group of grosbeaks are collectively called a "gross" of grosbeaks.
Click to expand...
Habitat
Chaparral
Location
Wofford Heights, CA, USA
Date taken
May 2018
Scientific name
Passerina caerulea
Equipment used
Canon 1Dx : Lens; Canon EF 500 IS USM L + 1.4 T/C (effective focal length 700mm) : Mode; aperture priority : Metering; center weighted average : Exp.; 1/1250 @ f 6.3 : ISO; 320 : White Bal.; custom
digishooter
Thanks all. Kevin, you are correct, they are shy. However, I use recordings of the birds calls, and Grosbeaks respond very well to these recordings. But, there is a certain ethics that should be observed and that is to not overuse recordings, especially when the birds are nesting. This causes unnecessary expenditure of energy responding to the calls. Having said that, my personal rule is if I don't get an image in 5-10 minutes I cease, and leave the birds area. ;)
 
kitefarrago
Lovely posture - I think the sense of symmetry of the bird from behind adds a lot to this portrait (as do the lovely colours), and it has turned its head in just the right way to give you eye contact. Very nice work!

Andrea
 

Media information

Category
North America
Added by
digishooter
Date added
View count
384
Comment count
8

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