ML242374851
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult Female - 1; Adult Male - 1
- Tags
- Habitat
Media notes
Proportions of female (head:wing:tail) are adult; plumage is like juvenile. This may help camouflage her on the nest. My hypothesis is that this behavior may be an efficient way to get food to the nestlings (the male can continue foraging while she carries what he has given her back to the nest). Her plumage may help elicit willingness on the male's part to feed her. (The other 2 places I photographed adult birds with spotted breasts were 5 Islands on 6/3 and Marshlands on 6/8.)
Observation details
One male feeding what appeared to be an adult female. She followed him like a juvenile and begged, and he fed her repeatedly. See photos. After he fed her 4 x, she disappeared, and I wondered if she had pocketed the food and would pass it on to nestlings. She had plumage like a juvenile, but with long primaries and tail feathers, the third female bird I have seen this week with a spotted breast.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 77D
- Lens
- EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM
- ISO
- 3200
- Focal length
- 300 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/400 sec
- Dimensions
- 1793 pixels x 1582 pixels
- Original file size
- 630.84 KB