Juvenile Crested Caracara on a Post

With an image like this, Jim should not only pull you out of the shadows...he should also make sure you stay out of the shadows. A beautiful shot.....I love the colors and detail of this one very much.

Hey Jim, Good to see your posts again. This is sweet. The light is incredible. I might take a bit off the right and put it on the left to get the bird less centered. Great shot.

An excellent image, Jim!
I've never seen this species before ... a beautiful bird!
Can you tell me how large they are? and is it common in N America? Many Thanks!

Welcome back. Killer light and pose. I agree with Alan's crop suggestion.

Very well done!!

KK Hui wrote:An excellent image, Jim!
I've never seen this species before ... a beautiful bird!
Can you tell me how large they are? and is it common in N America? Many Thanks!

Thanks KK. I believe these birds are fairly un-common in the US. I am far from being an expert on Caracaras, but I do see alot of them in the part of Florida I live in. I think they only live in the far south parts of the USA. The Crested Caracara is the national bird of Mexico, so they probably have more of them there. The birds are large. They are a little smaller than bald eagles. They spend alot of time eating carion. I most often find them on or near a road kill. One way to locate them is to watch the sky for vultures. Where there are vultures, there are often Caracara as well. The Adults have darker feathers and orange instead of pink on the bill.

Great shot Jim. Love the light and the background especially!

Lovely!

An excellent image of a bird who won't give me the time of day!!
I must come up and meet this feathered troublemaker some day!!!
Congrats!!, Excellent capture!!

Jim,

Great shot. Love the view of the talons.

Simply killer!

Rich

Drop dead gorgeous as far as I'm concerned. The color is as soft and rich as velvet.

Very beautiful bird, great BG.....

Sweet light and wonderful shot! My immediate reaction was that this would have made a great vertical and, at it's current size, would have fit perfectly in that format. That being said it's a wonderful shot though I agree with moving the camera to the left to place the bird further right. I'm jealous!

Jim,

Yes the light was beautiful. Great capture. Wish he had graced us with his presence for a whole hour or two. That road kill looked so good. Guess he was not very hungry.

Jim

Excellent capture of this bird.

Jim, welcome back from shadow world, images like this are too good

I love the shot and agree with both the vertical and/or the right placement of the bird.

Jim,
Everything looks great. I too would crop from the right to give a slightly less centered look.