Bird photos

Male Brandt's Cormorant Skypointing, Courtship Display, Breeding Plumage with blue throat and a few white pin-feathers, La Jolla. Skypointing is an interesting courtship behavior that many birds practice. Among Brandt's Cormorants the male performs this, likely as a way of attracting a mate to the nest he has built by showing off his striking blue throat. He tips his head backward showing off his striking blue throat, and partially raises his wings. Seen here on seacliffs above the ocean.
Species: Brandt's cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40133  

Clark's Grebes Ratchet Pointing, a courtship behavior in which the grebes assume a low facing position in the water, point beaks at one another and emit a ratchet-like sound. Coupled with dip-shaking, several rounds of ratchet pointing is often an immediate precursor to rushing.
Species: Clark's Grebe, Aechmophorus clarkii
Location: Lake Wohlford, Escondido, California
Image ID: 40891  

Royal tern, winter adult phase.
Species: Royal Tern, Sterna maxima, Thalasseus maximus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 37723  

Snow geese fly in huge numbers at sunrise. Thousands of wintering snow geese take to the sky in predawn light in Bosque del Apache's famous "blast off". The flock can be as large as 20,000 geese or more.
Species: Snow goose, Chen caerulescens
Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 38715  

Snow Geese in Flight, Bosque del Apache NWR.
Species: Snow goose, Chen caerulescens
Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 38717  

Sandhill cranes landing in water ponds at dusk, spending the night standing in water as a protection against coyotes and other predators. Motion blur.
Species: Sandhill crane, Grus canadensis
Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 38731  

Sandhill Cranes in Flight at Sunrise, Bosque del Apache NWR. At sunrise, sandhill cranes will fly out from the pool in which they spent the night to range over Bosque del Apache NWR in search of food, returning to the pool at sunset.
Species: Sandhill crane, Grus canadensis
Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 38733  

California Brown Pelican Flying over the Ocean, early morning light just after sunrise.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 38810  

Royal Tern in flight, adult breeding plumage with black head cap, La Jolla.
Species: Royal tern, Sterna maxima, Thalasseus maximus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 38954  

California Pelican flying on a wave, riding the updraft from the wave, La Jolla coastline in the distant background.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Image ID: 30262  

California Brown Pelican flying over a breaking wave.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 30374  

Bald eagle in flight, sidelit, cloudy sky and Kenai Mountains in the background.
Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis
Location: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska
Image ID: 22596  

Snow geese in flight.
Species: Snow goose, Chen caerulescens
Location: Bosque Del Apache, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 26196  

Sandhill crane in flight, wings extended.
Species: Sandhill crane, Grus canadensis
Location: Bosque Del Apache, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 26197  

Snow geese in flight, wings are blurred in long time exposure as they are flying.
Species: Snow goose, Chen caerulescens
Location: Bosque Del Apache, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 26211  

Cormorants rest on sandstone seacliffs above the ocean. Likely Brandts and double-crested cormorants.
Species: Cormorants, Phalacrocorax
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 18345  

Snow geese at dawn. Snow geese often "blast off" just before or after dawn, leaving the ponds where they rest for the night to forage elsewhere during the day.
Species: Snow goose, Chen caerulescens
Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 21800  

California brown pelican preening, the tip of the bill seen spreading preen oil on feathers.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 27262  

Juvenile California Brown Pelican Flying over the Ocean, early morning light just after sunrise.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 38808  

Royal Tern in flight, breaking waves and surf in the background, adult non-breeding plumage, La Jolla.
Species: Royal tern, Sterna maxima, Thalasseus maximus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 38953  

California Brown Pelican head throw, stretching its throat to keep it flexible and healthy.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 29085  

California Pelican flying on a wave, riding the updraft from the wave.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Image ID: 30279  

Snow geese fly in huge numbers at sunrise. Thousands of wintering snow geese take to the sky in predawn light in Bosque del Apache's famous "blast off". The flock can be as large as 20,000 geese or more.
Species: Snow goose, Chen caerulescens
Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico
Image ID: 38738  

Ring-Billed Gull in Flight, top view.
Species: Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40162  

Heermann's Gulls in Flight with Ocean Background.
Species: Heermann's Gull, Larus heermanni
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40164  

Orange-Crowned Warbler Amid Spring Flowers, Coast Trail, La Jolla.
Species: Orange-Crowned Warbler, Leiothlypis celata
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40249  

Peregrine Falcon in flight, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.
Species: Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California
Image ID: 40506  

Roseate Spoonbill in Flight, Platalea ajaja, Alafia Banks, Florida.
Species: Roseate Spoonbill, Platalea ajaja
Location: Alafia Banks Critical Wildlife Area, Tampa, Florida
Image ID: 40542  

White Ibis in flight, Eudocimus albus, Alafia Banks, Florida.
Species: White Ibis, Eudocimus albus
Location: Alafia Banks Critical Wildlife Area, Tampa, Florida
Image ID: 40546  

Two Western Grebes Walk on Water, Rushing, Backlit by the Rising Sun. Grebe rushing, a courtship behavior, happens when the birds slap the lake surface up to 20 times per second, literally running across the water.
Species: Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis
Location: Lake Wohlford, Escondido, California
Image ID: 40890