Drinking on the wing at night

One of the most unique and, to be honest, lucky shots I've taken of birds is this common poorwill drinking on the wing in the pitch blackness of night in the Arizona desert. I had set up an electronic beam across a man-made pond to photograph bats, but before the bats came in to drink, this bird made one pass with its mouth open to scoop enough water to satisfy its thirst. The image is incredibly sharp -- when it's magnified, you can see all of the veins and arteries in its huge mouth. I had two flash units set to trigger when a bird or bat broke the beam, and before dark I'd prefocused on the beam using manual focus mode. The poorwill could very easily have flown in the opposite direction, and then all I would have captured were tail feathers. But, as I said, I got lucky. I was watching the pond on a black and white TV that picked up the infra-red light on the pond. In this way, when I saw movement I could open the shutter in the darkness and hope the bird crossed the beam. The shutter had to be open because the birds and bats fly so fast that if I relied on the mechanics of the camera to open the shutter as the beam was broken, I'd miss the shot. My settings were 1 second, f/11, 400 ISO, and I used a 70-200mm lens set to 200mm.

4 Comments

Mar 15, 2025, 6:47:23 PM

Jim - Thank you very much for your thoughts and feedback, Elise. I appreciate it very much. I've been a photographer for over 50 years, and this image stands out to me as one of my best and favorite images.

Mar 15, 2025, 2:24:42 PM

Elise Wolf - This is one of the most amazing bird photos I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot. COPO are just amazing birds, their anatomy, life histories, foraging - basically everything about them. A species that does not get the attention it deserves. I have have care for them in my avian rescue center and working with them is fascinating. One of the few birds that when they look at you, you know there is a lot of intelligence and thought going on. Which makes sense given their natural and human challenges, lots of decisions being made. Anyhoo. I really love this picture. Also shows that vestigial tongue right below the open glottis. Love these precious, and declining birds.

Jun 8, 2022, 12:21:30 PM

Jim Zuckerman - Thanks for your thoughts, Avory. I agree with you that the picture is a bit weird. But also fascinating. Had it not been for photography, we would never see this.

Jun 8, 2022, 9:03:33 AM

Avory - That is a weird but very cool that picture. It is amazing! The bird’s mouth looks weird but it’s interesting! Avory (age 9)

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Drinking on the wing at night

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