Crested Seriema

This is another bird from my visit to Lowry Park Zoo. This guy was up above my head on a perch and just looking down checking me out while I was checking him out. It looks like he has the start of a cataract in this eye. The other one is clear, but this one looks a bit cloudy.

He's a rather large bird, probably the size of a Great Blue Heron in height, but much more stout. He seemed friendly enough or maybe just curious, but wouldn't come any closer. I love that little tuft of feathers just above his beak. It adds to his curious expression.

Whenever I'm shooting birds or animals in a zoo, I try not to show signs of a zoo in the background. Not because I'm trying to fool anyone, but because I want the photo as natural as possible. The easiest way to do this is with a wide aperture. I don't open it all the way, because the depth of field would be limited and all the bird will not be in focus; especially when using a telephoto lens. This one was shot at F6.3 and 1/250th. I think it blurred out the background just enough so it doesn't detract from the photo, yet enough so it hid the mesh above his head and behind him.

Unknown Bird Species

My grandson and I went to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, FL today. One of the first places we visited was the Free Flight Aviary where I spotted this bird.

Usually I take a photo of the signs so I know what kind of bird or animal I'm photographing. Today I didn't bother because Lowry Zoo always had each bird and animal identified on their website. Wouldn't you know, they've changed their website and no longer have photos and names. What a shame! I'd love to know what kind of bird this is.

He's sitting on top of his nest box about to go in. It looks like he might have some feed in his mouth for either the nesting female or maybe even chicks. There are a lot of new chicks at the zoo in the aviary. I refer to this bird as a he since he's so brilliantly colored and most of the time the most colorful is the male.

I made this image using fill flash at -1 stop. It was a little bright so I toned it down in Lightroom. The next time I think I'll use - 1 1/2 stops. I used Aperture Priority at + 1/3 stops at F 6.3 to ensure I'd have enough detail in the bird while blurring out the background and 1/250 shutter speed to stop any action on the bird's part. I used my 55-250mm lens at 250mm.