Trying to finish up 2025 images (up till Nov 1 anyway). These were taken in August. It was an uncommon opportunity in San Diego, and unfortunately, even though I took 1000’s of images over two mornings, overall I am disappointed. I thought I would have better images. A combination of poor lighting (bright backgrounds), bad luck, poor operator (bad focusing and framing) all conspired to deny me the images I thought I was going to have. This is a Pin-tailed Wydah. An African bird that originally was pet escapee; now however they are actively breeding in Southern California. What made this situation unique is that there were two males and one female, so the males were displaying and dancing to try to impress the lady. This was taking place in a public park. Hopefully as I go through the rest of my images I will find better ones, but these will give you an idea.
Pin-tailed Whydah
Country United States
State California
Location San Diego
Gender Male
Age Adult
Activity Courtship Display/Mating, Territorial Display
Rare (For the Location)? Yes
- Created Timestamp01/01/1970 00:00:00
- Copyright2025
Wow, cool bird.
That is a fantastic shot of the Whydah! We saw one perched in South Africa but this shot is so much better. Reviewing my shots from S.A. I had similar feelings about them (wishing more were better). Two other factors caused some softness in my shots were heat waves and shooting from a vehicle while it was running.
This is a very good shot of this displaying male!