Amazonian Umbrellabird

By the time we left the Cock-of-the-Rock lek above Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge on the Manu Road in the Andes of southern Peru, it was already early evening. As I remember it, we were still walking down to the van, which was parked several hundred yards from the entrance to the lek, down the road at a little pull-out, when Pepe, my guide, called out Umbrellabird! The Umbrellabird is one of the Cotingas, closely related to the Cock-of-the-Rock, and the male, when in breeding plumage and displaying, is just as spectacular in its own way. The umbrella is truly impressive. Not that I would know from personal experience. This is a female. Still, Umbrellabird is listed as uncommon in the foothills and flood plains of the Amazon, more common in the north than in the south, and “most often seen in flight, crossing rivers” so I am happy to have seen this perched bird at all! Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur mode. (The camera takes 3-4 exposures and intelligently stacks them.) Processed in Polarr.

2 Comments

  1. Reply
    John August 26, 2019

    Beautiful. CIZ question
    Do you use a tri or mono pod for CIZ shooting and do you use standard IS? Thanks Steve.

    • Reply
      lightshedder August 26, 2019

      I generally use a monopod for all my telephoto shots…but a monopod with a bean bag on top so the camera is not attached. 🙂

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