Final Project:  Birds of Long Island

American Robin

Turdus migratorius

Double-crested Cormorant

Phalacrocorax auritus

Bald Eagle

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Blue Jay

Cyanocitta cristata

Northern Mockingbird

Mimus polyglottos

Red-tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

Great Egret

Ardea alba

Birds of Long Island Description

For the past few months, birds have been my main focus when I go shooting.  For years I took the beauty and lifestyle of all these birds around me for granted, and taking photos of them allows me to get a closer look and identify all these little dinosaurs flying around.  It’s funny, I always used to make fun of the people I saw at work who sit there for hours waiting for the perfect photo of some birds, and now I’ve become one.  I’ve chosen my favorite 7 photos that I’ve taken in the past several weeks and prepared them for this series. 

The first photo is of an American Robin, a very common bird to see.  This particular one was seen at Sunken Meadow State Park, after catching a worm.  Robins are often seen hopping on the ground with their head cocked to one side – their impeccable sight and hearing allow them to sense the movement of worms beneath their feet.

The second photo is of a Double-crested Cormorant, also seen at Sunken Meadow on top of a glacial erratic.  This species is frequently seen diving for fish to eat.  During the 1800s-1900s, cormorants were hunted regularly, and the use of pesticides such as DDT led to thinning of their eggshells, but the species has been recovering since the 1970s.  Hard to tell on this photo, but this species is also known for their strikingly turquoise eyes.

The third photo is of the Bald Eagle, our national bird.  However, even being an icon of nationalism could not save these birds from being victims of extirpation from Long Island after similar effects from DDT reduced their egg thickness, and loss of nesting grounds forced them out.  Recently, there have been a few resurgences of nesting pairs of these birds back on Long Island so I immediately went to Centerport to see them.  My girlfriend and I waited a few hours to see them but weren’t lucky the first day so we went back a couple days later.  That day I was lucky enough to see both parents and I even found their nest and shot a few pictures of the baby.  It was an awesome day, and proved that patience is key when it comes to some photography.  I always thought it was ironic that the United States chose this bird as our national icon, supposedly representing honor and integrity yet the Bald Eagle has been repeatedly observed to wait for another bird to catch a fish or an eel and then steal it from the more successful hunter.  Even Ben Franklin argued in favor of the turkey over the Bald Eagle, but the stoic and discernible look of this bird won out.

The fourth photo is of the Blue Jay.  The eye-catching plumage of these birds makes me instinctively reach for my camera every time I see one, but I love this particular photo taken at Caumsett State Park because it showcases their seed-collecting behavior.  Blue Jays will pound on the hard nuts or seeds with their beaks to break them open, but it’s more likely due to the late autumn setting that this Blue Jay was going to harvest this acorn and bury it in a hole in the ground for winter.

The fifth photo is of a Northern Mockingbird, the only mockingbird native to the United States.  They were often captured for sale as a pet from the late 1700s to early 1900s, from which they became scarce in the wild.  After cage bird trade was slowed down, the population returned.  As shown by this bird’s stance on a hot coal bin at Sunken Meadow State Park, they have a tenacious existence alongside humans. 

The sixth photo is of a Red-Tailed Hawk.  One of the largest birds in North America, these birds mainly eat mammals such as small rodents.  I saw this one at King’s Park Psychiatric Center, where there is undoubtedly a large rodent population that exists in the abandoned buildings.  I’ve seen one room inside of a basement within the compound where the entire floor seemed to be moving due to the abundance of rats.  Living up to 30 years in the wild, the Red-Tailed Hawk definitely has a large opportunity to feast at places like this.  The tendency of human settlements to be synonymous with rodent populations makes it very likely that these hawks can coexist well with humans.

The seventh and final photo is of a Great Egret.  These large elegant birds stalk fish as they stand in marshlands with their long S-shaped necks.  For this photo I hid within some tall grass and waited for the bird to find a suitable catch.  As is almost always required for wildlife photography, I needed a very fast shutter speed to capture the quick motions of the bird which resulted in the cool water droplets suspended in the air as the bird launched its beak through the water’s surface.

Outcomes

I hope that looking at these photos encourages other people to stop every once in a while and observe how diverse and appreciable the lifestyles of birds around us are.  Also, any of my fellow classmates who enjoy to challenge themselves would be doing a disservice not taking the time to try to capture great bird photos.

Methods and Materials

I have a Canon Rebel T6 camera with a long range Sigma lens that allows me to keep my distance from the birds.  Unless you’re going for owls, natural daylight allows you to work with a really fast shutter speed that’s necessary for capturing the quick and sometimes unpredictable motions of the animals.  Understanding the lifestyle and habitat of the bird you are setting out for is definitely imperative, but patience is even more necessary as you are likely to see birds anywhere you are willing to wait for them.

References

1. Tim Laman is an award-winning National Geographic photographer and ornithologist that is known for taking dramatic measure in the shooting the birds-of-paradise.
2. Glenn Bartley is a nature photographer who is known for having his bird photos organized by the different countries he visits.  Maybe one day I could travel to different countries and photograph their endemic birds to add to my collection.
3. Alan Murphy organizes his photos more taxonomically by the type of bird.  He has a wide range in his collection, from woodpeckers to parrots to raptors. His work has inspired me to start my own taxonomic collection of all the animals of Long Island.