Peach-Fronted Parakeet

Gallery: AvianPosted November 28, 20171,335 views8 comments

During my scouting trip to Brazil, I visited Emas National Park. It's located in a patch of savanna in the western part of the country, surrounded by encroaching farmland. It's a large area home to a few bigger mammals (tapirs, a few different cats and maned wolves, which we glimpsed briefly), but is probably better known as a birding hot spot. There are a lot of smaller avian species found in the grassland, and we had some luck with owls and other nocturnal birds... but there are also a few colorful species around.

The Peach-fronted parakeet was one of the lovelier species I saw in Emas. I was fortunate to spot this individual as it peeked its head out of a termite mound as we rumbled past in our vehicle. We slowly backed up and it actually stayed put long enough to allow for a quick photo. I was shooting down on it, but the upward head turn provided a good view of its face.

Canon 1DX
Canon 600mm f/4 IS + 1.4x
ISO 1600
1/320th
f/6.3

Max

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on November 29, 2017 at 3:18 AM

Max,
What a beauty this is , great detail and pose devil

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on November 29, 2017 at 5:35 AM

Looks a little too bright on my monitor, Max. Toning down overall, and especially on the head of the bird might help, in my opinion.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on November 29, 2017 at 4:50 PM

This is really different because of the pose and the setting. The colors are quite fascinating. Nice composition.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on November 29, 2017 at 5:51 PM

Cool looking bird, Max. You really nailed the focus on the eye in this one.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on November 29, 2017 at 10:46 PM

Nature boggles the mind, the way species adapt. Who would have thought of a parakeet living in a termite mound! Well exposed and composed.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Moreau on November 30, 2017 at 9:21 AM

Great capture of this beautiful bird, Max. I love the colors of his head and the yellow ring around the eye. Great focus on the eye, and the shallow DOF does a lot to emphasize that. I could see burning down the background a bit to further emphasize the bird's bright colors, but it is lovely as is. Really nice work.

Registered on April 21, 2015, 64 Posts, 584 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on December 2, 2017 at 4:38 AM

A sweet pose you captured of this beauty peeking out at you Max!

The texture and color of the termite mound work nicely to enhance the colorful parakeet and make a pleasing composition. .

Sweet One laugh

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on December 2, 2017 at 4:36 PM

Love the head on view and the unusual setting in the termite mound Max devil

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments