Eastern Kingbird, Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, Iowa
I made a quick trip to the Green Island Wetlands this evening and came home with this photo of an Eastern Kingbird. This wasn’t an easy shot due to some strong wind. The Eastern Kingbird is not as skittish as many other birds and it gave me plenty of time to make a number of clicks. But its perch swayed in the wind unpredictable and made focussing a bit of a challenge. This large flycatcher hunts mostly for insects. It defends its breeding territory vigorously against other kingbirds. During winter, down south at the Amazon, this bird has a different lifestyle. They move around in flocks and the diet consists of fruits.
I tried to position myself so I had some open water behind the bird. Some growing reeds were far enough away to blur nicely and made for an undisturbing background.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, @ 850 mm, 1/640 s, f/9, ISO 640