Rufous Hummingbird

This is the same bird and perch as my previous post, but about 30 frames earlier. I like the suggestion of a smile in this one, despite the rain. I know it's anthropomorphic and it was probably making that face at its rival, but at least half an image is in the eye of the beholder. Usually, when you see a hummingbird's beak open at the end like this, it's due to a phenomenon called rhynchokinesis that let's them curve the upper beak up. To my eye, it looks like the lower beak is curved downward in this image. I did some poking around and found out that they can do that. The V cross-section of the bill forms a natural curve when the tops of the V are pulled apart at the base. A neat trick.

1DMkIV, 500mm f4, Black Widow on Gitzo legs, f4, 1/400, iso 1000, Av mode, no compensation, Color temperature changed in ACR to compensate for the bluish tinge from the gloomy day, a bit of brightening and minor adjustments in CS4. Noise reduction using Neat Image (it didn't need very much). Cropped slightly less than the last one (forgot to jot it down).

I always appreciate your comments and criticisms.

Thanks for looking,