Basics of Bird Photography

Undoubtedly, Bird Photography would be the most popular subject in Nature Photography. And at the same time it would be one of the most challenging job as well. This article is intended for all those bird photographers; who are willing to improve their skills and do a better job in this area.


Understanding the subject
It's very important first to understand what exactly is the Birds Photography and what do you need to know before jumping into this subject.  I am sure majority of us are jumped into this subject after watching some really amazing bird photographs published in magazines OR blogs. Quality, actions, moments captured in the photos tend to attract lot of people to start doing photography. But here we must understand the fact that; each such individual photo had gone through lot of efforts and patience. Photographer might have been researching many spots, hides OR he might have visited the identified spot number of times; he might have been waiting their for many days; he might have even failed on number of occasions to get a desired shot. So ultimately, to get a fantastic photo; usually it needs to go thorough research, disappointments, plenty of efforts, bad weather etc. I underlined usually because you might be lucky sometimes to get a nice shot without much of a trouble but that is not going to be always true. So be ready to go through all these challenges.


Understand and read the photographs
Good start before starting actual photography would be to read the others photograph. Understand the camera settings like focal length, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, brightness etc. And also try to get information about the birding site OR location, how many shots it took to get this photograph etc.


Practice makes you perfect!
If you happen to learn any new camera setting for instance; try it out and observe what you are getting as a output. Try to play with ISO, shutter speed and aperture values and again compare the outputs. Comparison will give you a fair idea how the slightest change can make your photo a superb photo OR worst of all. Always take notes with whatever you are trying and keep them handy. You will become better photographer only after you do lot of practice. For learning bird photography; it is not always necessary to travel far and visit birding sites. I would suggest to start with your nearby places to fine tune your skills. You can practice this even from your apartment window/patio/balcony if you happen to see birds. In case if you have your own backyard... nothing like it; you can try and explore many different things.


Time of day for bird photography
In a day, there are only 2 good opportunities for bird photography. Birds are always active early in the morning and early in the evening. Lot of bird photographers prefer morning time because lighting plays an important role here. In the afternoon OR early evening; photos are tend to get brighter compare to morning photos. But again depend on other factors as well. If it is a winter time OR little overcast afternoon time sometime proves to be a better choice. It is a run-time decision you have to take while planning. But plan it out during these 2 periods only to reduce the percentage of disappointment.


Getting close to the birds
To take a good shot of the bird there are ideally only 2 options. One is to use longest lens available. Usually, 400mm lens would be a good choice. Purchasing Lenses would be very expensive; but don't give up you can still do the bird photography. If you don't have a long enough lens; try to get as close as possible to birds without scaring them away. You need to learn the behavior of birds to do this. Small tip I would add here is; I have often observed that you can get much closer to the birds if you are seating in a car and not walking.


These are just few tips which could improve you as a better bird photographer. We all are students; if you have anything more to share here; you are always welcome to do so.


Happy Photography!

What makes a bird, a bird?

Birds are descendants from Bipedal; which are the Reptilian like dinosaurs from Jurasic Period. Ultimately, birds have many characteristics which are similar to Reptiles.

1. Their legs are covered by scales similar to reptile bodies
2. Birds are vertebrates
3. Birds also lay eggs which has as thick shell and a amniotic sac

But what makes bird, a bird is some unique features it possesses. Feathers, powerful wings, lightweight body, hollow bones, warm blood, amazing respiratory system and a comparitively large Heart; helps the birds FLY.

1. Feathers
The most important role of Feathers is to to give protection. Feathers also helps them to stay dry and warm. Feathers also play an important role in flying. And hence birds take very good care of their feathers.

Preening and Molting
Feathers also act as a Raincoat. Many birds possesses a Gland at base of their tail which produces OIL. Birds spread this oil to their feathers using their beaks. This process is called as Preening. Oil layer makes the feathers Waterproof and it also prevents the growth of fungi. Birds like Cormorants; does not have this Oil Gland in their body. And hence after being to water these birds need to dry their wings by spreading out wide. Look at the Cormorant in left image who is drying his wings in a
sunshine @ Khadakwasla Dam, Pune. When feathers wear out, birds replace them by molting. Molting is the process of shedding old feathers and growing new ones. Most birds shed their feathers at least once a year.

Types of Feathers
Birds have two main type of feathers. Down feathers are fluffy feathers that lie next to a bird’s body. These feathers help birds stay warm. When a bird fluffs its down feathers, air is trapped close to the body. Trapping
air keeps body heat near the body. Contour feathers are stiff feathers that cover a bird’s body and wings. Their colors and shapes help some birds attract mates. Contour feathers have a stiff central shaft with many
side branches, called barbs. The barbs link together to form a smooth surface. This streamlined surface helps birds fly.

2. High-Energy Animals
Birds need a lot of energy to fly. To get this energy, their bodies break down food quickly. This process generates a lot of body heat. In fact, the average body temperature of a bird is 40°C which is three degrees warmer than humans. Birds cannot sweat to cool off if they get too hot. Instead, they lay their feathers flat and pant like dogs do. Left image is of the Swan Goose which are the migratory birds. They fly long distances in winter; and required a high energy to fly.


3. Fast Digestion
Because birds need a lot of energy, they eat a lot. Hummingbirds need to eat almost constantly to get the energy they need! Most birds eat insects, nuts, seeds, or meat. These foods are high in protein and fat. A few birds, such as geese, eat grass, leaves, and other plants. Birds have a unique digestive system to help
them get energy quickly. Modern birds don’t have teeth, so they can’t chew. Instead, food goes from the mouth to the crop. The crop stores food until it moves to the gizzard. Many gizzards have small stones inside. These stones grind up the food so that it can be easily digested in the intestine. This grinding action is
similar to what happens when we chew our food.

4. Flying
Most of the birds can fly. Even flightless birds, such as ostriches, have ancestors that could fly. So, it is not surprising that birds have many adaptations for flight. For flying; birds are required to have the reduction in weight and increment in power and the most obvious characteristic related to flight is the wings. Birds have very lightweight bodies. And they have powerful flight muscles and fast heart beats. The fast heart beats helps birds get plenty of oxygen - rich blood to the flight muscles.


5. Getting off the Ground
How do birds overcome gravity to fly? Birds flap their wings to get into the air. They keep flapping to push themselves through the air. They are able to stay in the air because their wings cause lift. Lift is an upward force on a bird’s wings. As a bird flies through the air, some of the air is forced over the top of its wings. Some air is forced underneath the wings. Because the bird’s wings are curved on top, the air on top has to move farther than the air underneath. So, the air on top moves faster than the air underneath. The faster moving air on top creates an area of low pressure. The slower moving air underneath creates an area of high pressure and pushes the wing up. This upward force that acts on wings is called lift. Lift is affected by flying speed and by wing shape. The faster a bird flies, the greater the lift. Also, the larger the wing is, the greater the lift. Birds with large wings can glide for long distances.

6. Vision
Vision is the most highly developed sense in birds. Bird Vision is superior than any any animal. Some birds from famiy Birds Of Prey; has even larger eyes than humans. Larger eyes obviously more sharper and clean images; this helps birds to identify the movings objects very efficiently. Position of eyes though differ from one species to another. Birds of Prey category birds usually has eyes pointing towards front. This helps locate the prey from very far in the air. Ostrich has larger eyes which helps spot the preditors from far.


7. Raising Baby Birds
The way that birds reproduce is similar to the way that reptiles reproduce. Both birds and reptiles lay amniotic eggs in which there is a growing embryo. But unlike most reptiles, birds must keep their eggs warm for the embryos to live and grow.


Nests
Most birds build nests in which they lay their eggs. Birds keep their eggs warm by brooding. Brooding is the act of sitting on eggs and using body heat to keep them warm. Birds sit on their eggs until the eggs hatch.
For some birds, such as gulls, the job of brooding is shared by both males and females. In many species of songbirds, the female broods the eggs, and the male brings food to the brooding female. In a few species, the male broods the eggs.


Precocial and Altricial
Some birds, such as chickens and ducks, are active soon after they hatch. These active chicks are precocial. Precocial chicks are covered with downy feathers. As
soon as they can stand up, the chicks follow their parents around. These chicks
depend on a mother for warmth and protection, but they can walk, swim, and feed
themselves. Some birds, such as hawks and songbirds, are weak and helpless for a
while after hatching. These weak chicks are Altricial. When they hatch, they have no feathers and their eyes are closed. They cannot walk or fly. Their parents must keep them warm and feed them for several weeks.

Jungle Safari @ Amba (आंबा)

Ambagaon (आंबागांव) is situated on Kolhapur (कोल्हापूर) - Ratnagiri (रत्नागिरी) highway (NH-204) near Malkapur (मलकापूर). It is around 230+ kms from Pune. The road condition is better than what I expected. It is upcoming hill station without heavy tourist traffic. Not sure but the region is part of Dajipur Bison Sanctuary.
 
I took jungle safari ride arranged by resort where I was staying. But my main interest was bird-watching. We (I & a local guide) started early morning around 5:30 AM from the resort and went in the direction of Vishalgad. It is better not to talk about road condition. We crossed Manoli Dam and climbed up the hill and parked our jeep on the road itself. Then we started walking and went almost 2 kms away from our jeep. It was very foggy and I was hoping that there will be better sunlight & fog goes away so that I can locate some birds.

While walking I noticed that some animal is grazing at a distance. We went closer and my guide told me that it is Indian Bison (गवा). But we had to run away as bison started talking few steps towards us. We came back to our jeep and decided go by jeep instead of walking. We went till Waghzara but due to the fog could not capture a single photo of bird.
We decided to start the return journey as there were no signs of fog going away.


On our way back I heard a loud cackling noise and asked my driver to stop the jeep. I tried to see in the direction from where the noise was coming and saw a Malabar Grey Hornbill sitting on top of 1 of the trees. I could hear many such noises and I am sure there were many hornbills but I could only spot. I was happy to click couple of photos as it was a new addition to our website.



On our way back to Manoli Dam, I spotted many birds like Scarlet Minivets, Red-whiskered Bulbuls, Red-vented Bulbuls, Bea-eaters, Pied Bushchats, etc. Clicked few photos as well but quality was not good. Near Manoli Dam, we were walking and I saw 2 Red-wattled Lapwings on the ground just next to the road. I also felt that there is 1 more small bird walking on the ground. To verify I just went off the road & started going towards lapwings. Both the lapwings flew away immediately and I also lost that small bird as I was not able to locate it. Both lapwings were flying with loud & scolding calls. I knew there must be a nest nearby and hence lapwings are trying to distract me. I kept walking hoping to see the nest. After scanning the ground found out this. A fledgling was lying on the ground. The fledgling was cryptically colored matching the ground pattern. The fledgling was lying still realizing the danger making almost impossible to locate.

It was 8:30 AM and decided to go back to the resort. On the way back clicked few more photos of paddy-field pipit, a lizard, and cicada insect on tree

Birds Info - Indian Birds

BirdsInfo.Net now launching the first Android App.... Birds Info - Indian Birds

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kokanes.birdsinfo

The application covers most common species of India Birds. Easy to use as a field guide at birding sites. Keeping focus on only Indian Birds at this time. Some key features of application include:

1. Bird Categorization for easy navigation
2. State Birds of India
3. Bird Names in Marathi
4. Widget displaying random bird on home screen

The only application available on android market so far which displays the bird names in Marathi. Application also offers search based on marathi names. Currently many of the Android operating systems doesn't support Devanagari font. To overcome this challenge; in our application users can still perform the search in Marathi by typing the names in english script. For example: 'Chimani', 'Kabutar', 'Maina' etc.
Desktop widget is one more cool features which displays the 'Bird Info' with image and short details in a small window on home screen. It randomized itself after a certain time and show the new bird every time.

Introduction

Welcome to the world of Birds!!
BirdsInfo.Net is now a part TheNatureWeb.Net

http://birds.thenatureweb.net

This is a new start and official Blog for Birds @ TheNatureWeb.Net

Photography is our hobby and birds photography is kind of specialization. Birds.TheNatureWeb.Net is the effort of sharing birds information with all birds lovers out there. Gathering information is actually a bi-product shaped out from our hobby.

Birds.TheNatureWeb.Net has successfully completed it's 3 Years now and on this occasion we are proudly launching the official Birds.TheNatureWeb.Net blog as a step forward.