How to Take Pictures of Hummingbirds

Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird

I think most everyone who like to take pictures, wants to get a good picture of a hummingbird. That is not always an easy task! They are fast little birds and don't stay in one place for very long.

I can get pictures of them at the hummingbird feeder, but like most everyone else, we want something that is more natural. I found an easy solution!

I do have a hummingbird feeder hanging from the eve of the house, right outside my dining room window, so I have hummingbirds coming close to the window most of the day. Sometimes they will land in one of the trees close to the house, bit it just isn't close enough or its to high to really get a good picture.

Here is what I did.  I found a tall tree branch that had fallen from one of our trees and I stood it up against the house, close to the feeder and in front of the window. It has several small branches extending from it, so the hummers have lots of places to sit while waiting for the turn at the feeder.

Now, I just wait for the sun to shine on those branches and I break out my camera and snap away!

Juvenile Blue Jay on Tree Branch

Juvenile Blue Jay

I was asked recently how I got so close to the blue jay to take this picture without them flying away. The person asking said they can't even begin to get close the these birds before they see him coming and off they go. I completely understand! I have gone out walking and try to catch a picture of one of them as can't get near close enough.

Well, my answer to him was.... I cheat!  I don't really think it's cheating, but I don't go looking for them anymore, I make them come to me.  What you don't see in this picture is the table that the dead tree limb is laying on, or the sunflower seeds that are spread out on the table. 

When I know I am going to have some time to take pictures, I let my bird feeder to dry and put the bird seeds on the table nearby. Then I found a dead tree branch and laid it across the table, so the table wouldn't be in the picture. Then I went in the house and set my tripod up and just waited a little while. 

You do need to be sure that there is no "junk" in the background, the green in the background here is just the grass in my yard. Once you zoom in on the subject, the background will be blurred anyway, but I usually like a "clean" background.

The picture above is available on my website: Pixels.com website as a canvas print, acrylic, or metal print as well as pillows, tote bags, greeting cards and more! You can also visit Fine Art America for more  Blue jay photographs for sale!

A Herd of Turkey

A Large Rafter of Wild Turkey

Actually, a group of turkey is called a “rafter”, but when I called hubby to the window yesterday I told him there was a whole “herd” of turkey in the front yard. For some reason, that just sounds more appropriate to me! From what I could tell, this is a group of “jakes”, which are young male turkey.

The light wasn’t very good for taking pictures of them and you can’t see the beautiful colors of their feathers, but they were really quite colorful. Females don’t have the coloring that males do, the females are a rather dull brown.

These turkey were on the move and there were so many of them, they were hard to count. Several of them would take off running, chasing bugs or each other. They best we could count, there were 32 of them passing through the yard. That is a lot of Thanksgiving dinners!

Guinea Fowl – A Rather Interesting Bird

Guinea fowl hanging out with wild turkey.

A while back, I wrote a post on a guinea fowl that was hanging out with the wild turkey that were coming through our place, Does This Guinea Think He Is A Turkey? I did some research on this unique looking bird and thought you might enjoy reading some of what I learned. 

The Guinea fowl is native to South Africa where it is commonly raised for food. They were introduced to the US as well as many other countries for their meat which is mostly dark meat with a slightly wild taste. They are also raised for their eggs. Guinea eggs are higher in protein than chicken eggs and are about twice the size of a large chicken egg. 

Close up of a guinea fowls head.

The “helmeted” guinea, such as seen here is about the size of a large chicken. It has a round body and its head is small for its size. It is similar to its cousin the turkey as its head is featherless, however the guinea has a crest on top. It also has bright red waddles similar to the turkey but the guineas waddles are around its beak. Their plumage is quite beautiful with their dark gray or black feather and white polka dots and is very popular in clothing and jewelry.

Guineas are famous for helping control garden pest such as grasshoppers and many people use them instead of chemical pest control. They are also wonderful for reducing the tick population and with threat of Lyme disease we can always use fewer ticks around!

Helmeted Guinea roosting in a tree.

Guineas are also very territorial birds and do not like visitors or any kind. They will “alert” by screeching and let you know when unwanted visitors such as skunks, opossum, raccoon, fox, coyotes or other such predators come around. Guineas have even known to group together and catch and kill snakes. They will also alert you when unfamiliar humans come calling as well!

Guineas watching themselves in a mirror.

 The guinea can be a rather comical bird at times. Watching them as they chase grasshopper and each other around can be quite amusing. Guineas also love to watch themselves in the mirror. I’m not sure if it is because they think it is an unfamiliar guinea and they want to run it off or if they just enjoy looking at themselves, but many people have placed a mirror in their “guinea yard” and watched the birds as they try to figure where this “other” bird is. 

For more detailed information on the Helmeted Guinea, click on the link below:

The Guinea Fowl - Interesting Facts and Information