Brokebeak Mountain

NorthernFocus

Went after some eagle captures again this weekend. Did a much better job of judging exposures this time out and prevented blown out white heads/tails. Didn't notice until I was processing images last night that this guy had a broken beak. You can see the crack in the beak and the new, brighter yellow growth underneath the old.

Nikon D200 w/Sigma 100-300 f4
1/2000s f/8.0 at 300.0mm iso500

SloYerRoll

Fantastic shot

PrescottPhotog

articblooms wrote:

Went after some eagle captures again this weekend. Did a much better job of judging exposures this time out and prevented blown out white heads/tails. Didn't notice until I was processing images last night that this guy had a broken beak. You can see the crack in the beak and the new, brighter yellow growth underneath the old.

Hi, Beautiful shot.. but OUCH, a broken beak, never thought about that. It makes eating pretty tough for a critter that needs his beak to eat. That would be like us trying to eat without an upper jaw to chew. Not good, hope it heals okay..

Maestro

I hope that heals. That had to have hurt. Incredibly well done BIF. The light and detail are awesome.

summerz

WOW look at those wings!! Great shot Hope the Bird will be ok.

Awais Yaqub

amazing

NorthernFocus

Thanks for the comments, folks. This was one of the first images from the weekend that I was processing because I thought it was a cool position of the wings and head. Also this was one of the five percent that I get in focus and more-or-less properly exposed

I did a little reading on the web and found that eagles' beaks, much like our fingernails, are made of keratin and grow continuosly. In captivity they actually need to be trimmed. From the image it looks like the new growth is already well on its way. The end of the beak is not very yellow which I imagine means it is being replaced from underneath. If you've ever lost a fingernail the same thing happens. I suspect this guy will be OK. Bit it still had to hurt

If you notice, this is a fairly young bird. It still has one or two dark feathers on the upper portion of the tail. In theory they complete the transition to white heads/tails in their fifth year and can live to be 30.