Antillean Crested Hummingbird

[Tordan58]

A small hummingbird, about 8 cm in length and extremely swift. Difficult to capture with the camera, but it can be done. The species name is slightly deceptive since only males have a crest on the head.

Below are some pictures of this beauty taken while visiting the island of Guadeloupe

Male

Female

Hovering

Thanks for looking,
Tord

[Tordan58]

Re: Antillean Crested Hummingbird

To the top.

My apologies if you are getting tired of all these wildlife shots. I'd be interested in getting feedback.
/Tord

[Chevvyf1]

Re: Antillean Crested Hummingbird

Tord Thank You for sharing I love wildlife shots, well any shots - its nice to look through where people have been and what caught their eye/lens

I am getting more "into birds" ... since last year Peregrine Falcons & Red Kites then Madagascar Fody and a few other birds in the Indian Ocean and going back this year for MORE birds & Wild Life

I do not get bored with great photos

[Rocknroll59]

Re: Antillean Crested Hummingbird

Love the wildlife shots Tord keep them coming. These look very difficult to get a decent shot of so well done...
saw a few of these on a trip up to Alaska on a cruise a few years ago but didn't have a decent camera then, but a very pretty bird.

Peter

[Floribunda]

Re: Antillean Crested Hummingbird

These fall into the "too hard basket" for me! These fellows are so quick, I think you have done amazingly well.
I never tire of wildlife photos either, so keep them coming. Especially birds.
Great to see birds from other countries.

[Phill D]

Re: Antillean Crested Hummingbird

My first thought was how did he manage to get hummers in Sweden that's not fair. Then I read a bit further, nice place to go for a holiday. They must be really fast little birds you did very well to get such nice shots in a natural setting.

[rsh1960]

Re: Antillean Crested Hummingbird

Lovely set of pictures.

[Tordan58]

Re: Antillean Crested Hummingbird

Thanks,

The technique is to first scout to identify suitable habitats, that is flora with flowers of the particular species that the hummingbirds will feed on. Many of these species are quite specialized, the shape and length of the beak is custom designed to fit the flowers. Then assess the amount of activity, you should notice if there any hummingbirds around. Finally position yourself at a good spot, free of obstacles, try to have favorable light angle etc, deploy the camera and wait, anticipate where action will take place. One now and then there will be short time windows where you need to be real fast. A tripod or monopod helps in offloading the weight, however it can restrict the ability to aim at subject. I've found a monopod with ball head to be a useful companion tool.

For full frame capture you will often need 500mm+ focal length but considering the depth of field, need for speed I find 300 mm more useful, also increasing the chance of capturing the whole bird.

Pictures are approximately 50% crops taken with the E-620 @800 ISO, 50-200 SWD + EC14 @F/5.6, shutter speeds 1/400 (perched) and 1/1600 (in flight). White balance was accidentally set to incorrect temperature but luckily I did save in ORF and managed to restore to something pretty close to reality.

/Tord