White-faced Nunbird

Gallery: AvianPosted June 27, 20081,045 views21 comments

We saw and photographed this species on our last Ecuador tour near Bellavista Lodge in the Tandaypa valley. It's quite a rare species and the first time I'd seen it so I was quite happy to get a few decent images of it. This species is in the Puffbird family and its fairly predatory eating small lizards, hatchlings etc. Moderate crop.

MarkIII 500IS+1.4X 1/160 F8 iso 800, evaluative metering -1/3

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Tom Lusk on June 27, 2008 at 7:26 PM

Wow! A beautiful bird in strange but equally beautiful surroundings. Any idea how they got their name?

Registered on September 17, 2005, 312 Posts, 600 Comments

Comment posted by Mary McGonigal on June 27, 2008 at 7:27 PM

Cool-looking bird! Great colors, detail & comp, beautiful setting. The white spot at the upper left draws my eye and I think I would clone it out. Great capture.

Registered on September 16, 2007, 103 Posts, 516 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on June 27, 2008 at 7:30 PM

Thanks Tom, I'm not sure how they came to be called nunbirds, my only guess is that they are called nunbirds because the other species of nunbirds are either all black or black with a little white. The vegetation is typical for cloudforests with a lot of moss and fern growth on branches of trees.

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

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on June 27, 2008 at 7:53 PM

Nate

The bird is unusual and stunning, but equally as stunning to me is the bird's environment that you have included.

Just beautiful.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on June 27, 2008 at 7:53 PM

Both bird and setting are wonderful Nate. Excellent feather detail.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on June 27, 2008 at 8:07 PM

Hi Nate, Great job as always. That beak looks like a real weapon.

I really like how you composed this.

Peter

Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Tomalty on June 27, 2008 at 8:36 PM

A strange but cute little fellow Nate. Nice get.
Rick T

Registered on October 11, 2006, 212 Posts, 1610 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Lovas on June 27, 2008 at 8:39 PM

Very cool bird...great light...I love the little green plant(s) growing to the left and that great mossy stuff...nate

Registered on December 30, 2007, 27 Posts, 176 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on June 27, 2008 at 9:13 PM

Beautiful shot, great light ,colors, and details. interesting bird, too.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Larry McFerrin on June 27, 2008 at 9:15 PM

What a different looking bird Nate. I like the detail and the inclusion of habitat. Great image!

Registered on March 30, 2008, 34 Posts, 272 Comments

Comment posted by Jude Haase on June 27, 2008 at 10:15 PM

I've never seen one of these guys before.........Great job Nate!!

Registered on April 3, 2006, 236 Posts, 1657 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on June 27, 2008 at 10:24 PM

Very nice, Nate. I like how all the shapes and colors in this image work together.

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

Comment posted by Avi Hirschfield on June 27, 2008 at 10:57 PM

Absolutely beautifull shot with an equall setting.Never heard of one before let alone see one.Feather detail is excellent
Thanks for sharing

Registered on November 1, 2003, 518 Posts, 2114 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on June 28, 2008 at 1:31 AM

What an interesting and beautiful bit of habitat, the bird just adds to the wonder. Super nice image.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on June 28, 2008 at 6:23 AM

Great setting Nate, wonderful detail

cheers Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on June 28, 2008 at 2:11 PM

I'm headed to Bellavista in January. If I come back with even one shot this good, I'll count the trip a complete success. The environment is great, as others have noted, and the shot is tack-sharp. I really like the use of depth of field to keep the epiphytes in front of and behind the bird in focus. And congratulations on finding that much light in the cloud forest. Outstanding work.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on June 28, 2008 at 11:44 PM

Nice. I like all the components of this image..as much as the bird. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on June 29, 2008 at 3:48 AM

Wonderful image of bird and habitat.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Jose Suro on June 30, 2008 at 9:45 AM

Super composition, light and clarity. Great head turn on the bird as well. A BIG winner Nate.

.

Best,

Jose

Registered on June 24, 2006, 267 Posts, 2273 Comments

Comment posted by raymond j barlow on June 30, 2008 at 10:03 AM

beautiful image Nate, what a cool looking bird!

Registered on March 29, 2007, 218 Posts, 964 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on August 6, 2008 at 6:02 AM

Always interesting to see your images and fantastic range of birds. This is another beauty and i particular like the setting and composition.

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments