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painted bunting

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painted bunting

Male (naturally, gets the bold colours) painted bunting, the only bird with red underparts and a blue head. Found in southeastern U.S. as well as central US and eastern half of Mexico. Numbers are thought to be diminishing because of habitat loss and the practice of capturing,( in Mexico,) and caging the brilliant bird for sale abroad. This male was photographed in north central Texas using an Olympus 510 DSLR with 400 mm lens. Photo take by Joyce Baxter. July 2009.

slowbutsteady

on Jul 11, 2009 10:22 pm

Comments & voting
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Image Type(s): Wildlife

Image ID: 528713

5794 Hits
92.85% Score
40 Votes

Comments

Kane - Jul 11, 2009 10:54 pm - Voted 10/10

Nice find

These guys are tough to find. On that note I give you 10, however the Digital Noise in the image is killing me.

slowbutsteady - Jul 12, 2009 1:00 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Nice find

Thanks for the vote, I had to use ISO 800 to keep shutter speed high. Other than sharpening and "smart image fix" in Corel Painter I did not alter anything. The Oly 510 is a 10 MP camera , but the (4/3rd sized) smaller sensor probably shows more noise at 800 ISO than an APS or full framed sensor. If those birds would just hold still I could use a lower ISO! I always enjoy your image contributions. They are some of the very best on SP. Best regards....Charles( and Joyce Baxter )

rdmc - Jul 12, 2009 11:14 am - Voted 10/10

One of the most...

...beautiful little birds that I have ever seen. I once had one hit my window when I was living in Missouri.... the only time I have ever seen one.

Very nice capture!
:0)