The common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a great bird to photograph. These birds are commonly seen in forests, farms, and gardens throughout the world.
Bird photography requires a lot of patience and specialized equipment. But with the right approach, you can create some amazing images. From capturing motion blurs to flight shots, the possibilities are endless!
Know Where They Feed
The Common Blackbird is a widespread species in the UK and Australia, and can be found in urban and bushland habitats, vineyards and gardens. It’s also often seen along roadsides and in parks.
These birds are omnivorous, eating insects and seeds as well as a variety of grains and berries. They prefer to forage (search for food) rather than hunt, and can be found in a range of ecosystems including forests, grasslands, swamps, marshes and wetlands.
They are opportunistic feeders and will take many different kinds of food from bird tables and in the wild, including corn, wheat, sunflower seeds, sultanas, mealworms, peanuts, hemp seed and oats. They will not eat hard-shelled seeds or nuts.
As a general rule, the blackbird is too large to use most hanging bird feeders and will instead forage on the ground and in bushes. They will also happily feed on large bird tables, particularly if they are enclosed ones.
The blackbird is a very active feeder, often hopping about the ground, probing for worms and berries. They can also be very territorial and will defend a feeding spot from other birds.
During the breeding season, they feed primarily on insects and spiders. During the colder months, they switch their diet to plant matter and berries.
These berries provide them with much of their energy for the cold weather. They are also a great source of vitamins and minerals that help them stay strong, healthy, and fight off disease.
Like all birds, the blackbird’s diet changes over the year. They rely on sugar in fruits and berries to provide them with energy during the winter months, when they can’t forage for insects and seeds.
In the spring and summer, they mainly feed on seeds, weeds, insects and spiders. They are also known to eat small animals such as frogs, snakes and lizards.
As a general rule, the blackbird’s diet includes a wide range of foods including insects, fruit, berries, seeds, cereal grains, nuts, legumes, and vegetables. They are a great source of vitamins, especially vitamin D and calcium. They are also rich in lysine and methionine, which improve their immune system and promote healthier bones and beaks.
Know Your Focal Length
One of the most important aspects of bird photography is the focal length. This is a key factor in whether your images will be sharp, clear and clean. Focal length is also important for determining the size of the birds in your frame. If the bird is too big or far away it will be impossible to capture the detail you need.
Fortunately, there are some affordable options that will allow you to get the long focal length telephoto lens that you need for capturing quality bird photographs. These lenses range in price from under $3000 to $12,000 and will give you the telephoto magnification & focal length you need to photograph blackbirds and other avians.
A longer telephoto lens is essential for birds because it allows you to focus close enough to take good photos of individual birds and even small groups. You can also use a teleconverter to increase the maximum reach of your lens, which can be useful when you want to photograph birds that are out of your reach.
For example, if you’re taking pictures of blackbirds in flight you’ll need a longer telephoto lens to be able to fill the frame with the birds and show off the details of their feathers. This can be done by using a 1.4x teleconverter, which will reduce your lens’s maximum aperture to f/5.6 (a reduction of the effective f-stop) while maintaining a good maximum focal length.
Another advantage of a long focal length is perspective compression, which flatters and isolates the bird from its background. This increases the size of the bird in the frame and creates a more dramatic effect.
There are a lot of different factors to consider when selecting a camera lens for birding, but the most important one is the focal length and the size of the birds you want to photograph. A good telephoto lens can make the difference between a good photo and a bad one.
Know Your Shutter Speed
The blackbird is a fast-moving bird, which means that your exposure is going to have to be quick and sharp to freeze its movement. To achieve this, you need to know your shutter speed and aperture settings.
The best way to ensure that your camera is capturing the correct exposure is by taking a series of test shots. You can then compare the brightness of your images on the LCD screen to determine which one is overexposed. If you overexpose, use the ISO and shutter speed to reduce the amount of noise that will be visible in your photos.
Alternatively, you can shoot in Manual mode and manually choose each of the three exposure-triangle variables (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO). This will allow you to control the settings yourself and ensure that you get the correct exposure every time.
Another advantage of shooting in Manual is that you can keep the background in your photo consistent and the bird well exposed. This is particularly important if you are shooting in an even lighting condition, for example, if your camera is set to Automatic and your Sandhill Crane flies across a field of trees in the background.
If your camera allows you to shoot in RAW mode, it is also a good idea to do so. RAW files are far more detailed than JPGs, and they allow you to recover shadows and highlight details in your photos.
This will help your camera’s software create better images. Plus, it will save you a lot of time and effort in post-processing your photographs.
The best time to photograph the blackbird is in the early morning and late afternoon, as this is when they are most active. This will ensure that you have good light to capture your bird in a beautiful portrait.
Choosing the right light will not only make your photo stand out from other birds, but it will also give you a more pleasing overall composition. It is best to use side light or a soft light, such as the sun, to illuminate your subject.
Know Your Aperture
If you are a new bird photographer, there are some basic settings that you will want to know. These settings will help you to get the best possible images of your bird subjects. You will need to know what your aperture is, what your shutter speed is, and what your ISO setting is before you start taking pictures.
Aperture is the opening of the lens that lets light into your camera sensor. The more light you let into your sensor, the more detail you will be able to capture in your photographs. A small f-stop, such as f/5.6 or f/6.3, will allow you to take a picture with excellent bokeh, or blurry background, and good depth of field, keeping the focus on the bird’s body.
You may need to adjust your ISO and/or shutter speed a little depending on the lighting conditions, but this is a relatively simple process when using manual mode. The main issue with using manual mode is that it can be very slow to work out the exposure, as you are making all of the exposure decisions yourself rather than having your camera determine the exposure for you.
However, it is often a useful option when you have the opportunity to shoot in consistent light or when a subject is moving rapidly past changing backgrounds. This mode is perfect for capturing moving subjects, and it will also help you to avoid having your image be too dark or too light.
Another important feature of a good birding camera is continuous shooting or burst mode. This is an essential feature when taking photographs of birds in flight, as they will most likely move very quickly in that situation.
Many cameras, including those on the Canon range, will have a special mode called AI Servo which helps to keep the camera focusing on the subject while it is in motion. This mode will be most useful when photographing birds in flight, as they will be able to take a series of shots very quickly, and it will be the easiest way to ensure you don’t miss any of that action!
