{"id":3583,"date":"2011-01-06T18:14:33","date_gmt":"2011-01-06T22:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=3583"},"modified":"2011-02-24T11:42:25","modified_gmt":"2011-02-24T15:42:25","slug":"do-birds-understand-death-two-tales-one-new-one-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2011\/01\/06\/do-birds-understand-death-two-tales-one-new-one-old\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Birds Understand Death? Two Tales: One New, One Old"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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This image was created on December 30 past with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1\/500 sec. at f\/8 in Av mode. (The proper compensation should have been about +1 2\/3 stops as the RAW file was under-exposed.)<\/p>\n

Read on to find out why this bird was so alert…. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Do Birds Understand Death? Two Tales: One New, One Old<\/h2>\n

I was with two private day clients on the Barnegat Jetty; we were photographing a group of seven Long-tailed Ducks feeding exactly as Denise Ippolito describes in the Barnegat Jetty Site Guide<\/a>. I noticed a Long-tailed Duck floating past the feeding group and quickly realized that it was dead. And just as quickly realized that it had been dispatched by a shotgun blast; there had been several boats hunting both in the bay and on the ocean near the jetty to the north on the far side of the inlet. Multiple shotgun blasts had filled the cold air all day long. (Denise and Neil Nourse had found a wounded long-tail suffering on the beach earlier that afternoon; it eventually succumbed.) Neil, who used to hunt sea ducks, said that recovering the birds was often difficult or impossible. Below is the image of the dead bird floating by. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This image was created moments before the opening image above, also with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1\/500 sec. at f\/8 in Av mode. (Again, the proper compensation should have been about +1 2\/3 stops as the RAW file was under-exposed.)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Well, I see and photograph the dead sea duck and get back to concentrate on photographing the feeding birds when suddenly the long-tail shown in the first image in this post sees the dead duck and becomes quite concerned, peering with interest over the waves at its fallen flock-mate. Then it begins swimming towards the deceased sea duck and is almost instantly joined by the other six birds. The dead bird was being carried towards the bay at a fairly rapid pace by the incoming tide. The group swam quickly and was soon alongside the dead duck. They swam with the carcass for a minute or so before turning around and taking flight to the east, heading out to the open ocean…..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This swimming Long-tailed Duck hen was one of the group of seven. It as also photographed with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1\/3 stop: 1\/640 sec. at f\/8 in Av mode. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Please do not take the tale above as either anti- or pro-hunting. <\/p>\n

You can see more Barnegat images here<\/a> and on Denise’s blog here. <\/a> The January 4 and January 6 posts with lots of great jetty images are sandwiched around a Fractalius post that is filled with Denise’s creative stuff. <\/p>\n

The Old Tale<\/h2>\n

As I was watching the fairly amazing behavior noted above, a similar experience from the late 1970s came to mind. I was on a fishing boat in Mexican waters at the Coronado Islands off the coast of Imperial Beach, CA. We were live-lining anchovies for Yellowtail and baby Bluefin Tuna. The mates toss out scoops of live anchovies as chum. You place a single live anchovy on a bare hook and toss it out about twenty feet from the boat. When a fish grabs your bait you hold on for dear life. Most of the fish simply take out all your line, tangle you in the kelp, and break off. <\/p>\n

Naturally the Brown Pelicans view this as great fun. The gather around the boat coming closer and closer to grab the anchovies as soon as a scoop is tossed away from the boat. But like the fish, the occasionally grab a baited hook. Then the angler has the chore of reeling in the hapless bird and the mates have the chore of grabbing the large birds and removing the hook. If my memory is correct, the mates tried spraying the pelicans with chloroform or with something similar. But that did not stop the pelicans from remaining a big nuisance. Next the mates tried batting the pelicans in the head with a billy club. That did not work as several hundred birds gathered around the boat for free breakfast. <\/p>\n

The mates were becoming more and more frustrated until finally one whacked a pelican so hard in the head that it died right on the spot. The mate tossed the body overboard. As the dead bird floated away from the fishing vessel the pelicans quit feeding and formed up in lines with their fallen comrade. Within five minutes there were several long curving lines of pelicans floating away from the boat with the dead bird. I was watching a funeral procession. <\/p>\n

Not a single Brown Pelican came anywhere near the boat for the rest of the morning. <\/p>\n

Do birds understand death? <\/p>\n

Shopper’s Guide<\/h2>\n

Here is a list of the gear that I used to create the images above. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins.<\/p>\n

Canon 800mm f\/5.L IS lens<\/a> Right now this is my all time favorite super-telephoto lens.
\nCanon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body<\/a> And this is the very best professional digital camera body that I have even used.
\nCanon 1.4X II teleconverter<\/a> This is my most used accessory; I would be lost without it. <\/p>\n

And from the BAA On-line Store:<\/p>\n

Gitzo 3530 LS Tripod<\/a> This one will last you a lifetime.
\nMongoose M3.6 Tripod Head<\/a> Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the Wimberley V2 head<\/a>.
\n Double Bubble Level<\/a> You will find one in my camera’s hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.
\nDelkin 32gb e-Film Pro Compact Flash Card<\/a> Fast and dependable.
\nNEOS Navigator 5 Insulated Overshoes<\/a> My brand new pair of NEOS Navigators kept me warm and dry and provided safe footing and a good grip on the slippery jetty rocks. <\/p>\n

If you are considering the purchase of a major piece of photographic gear be it a new camera, a long lens, a tripod or a head, or some accessories be sure to check out our complete Shopper’s Guide.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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This image was created on December 30 past with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1\/500 sec. at f\/8 in Av mode. (The proper compensation should have been about +1 2\/3 stops as the RAW file was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[90,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-90","category-misc","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}