Trogon Photo Tours

March 2021 - This month's photo article is about photographing woodpeckers, which are one of my favorite bird families.  The images are from many different locations and  they were selected because I thought they were good illustrations of the topics I wanted to cover.

This is a male Black-headed Woodpecker photographed at Huai Kha Kheang Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand.  Let's start with the basics.  Most of the time in terms of composition it's going to make sense to photograph woodpeckers with a vertical orientation of the camera.  The reason being that these birds most of the time will be positioned in a vertical manner on the tree.  So most of the images in this newsletter will be verticals. This shot was taken with a Canon 7D, 500F4 1/250 F5, iso 500, handheld.

Here's a male Black-cheeked Woodpecker photographed at Rancho Suamox in Ecuador.  For this image I used flash, without flash the image would have been flat with the dull lighting and in order to get the bird properly exposed I would have had to overexpose the light background.  By using fill flash at about -1.0, I was able to balance the lighting throwing enough light onto the bird so that I could leave the background with a natural and neutral tone. The techs for this shot were Canon 1D3, 500F4 1.4x 1/125 F7.1, iso 640, fill flash at -1.3. 

Here's a White Woodpecker from the Ibera Marshes in Argentina.  I think this is one of the most striking woodpeckers in the world.  We saw some of this species from a distance and were able to call this bird down into a field with some short stalks, a couple of which it was kind enough to perch on.  In general woodpeckers respond quite well to calls.  While it's important not to call any one bird too often, some judicial use of calls can help to yield some nice images of woodpeckers like this one. The techs for this shot were Canon 7D, 500F4 1.4x 1/640 F7.1, iso 500, handheld. 

Here's a Gila Woodpecker approaching its nesting cavity in Green Valley, Arizona.  We found this woodpecker nest while doing a bit of bird photography in the desert near Green Valley.  We made sure not to approach the nest too closely out of fear of scaring off the birds which were actively feeding youngsters.  It's very important to be aware of the behavior of the parents if they are feeding young.  As we kept our distance these birds kept coming in to feed their youngsters so we stayed and photographed.  In other instances when I have found a woodpecker nest and the birds seemed spooked by my presence, I have used my vehicle as a blind to keep from scaring them.  For this image I set up my tripod and prefocused on the nesting hole, then changed to manual focus so the focus was locked on the hole.  I used a horizontal orientation as the birds were coming in from the side and I needed as much room as possible.  I knew I would need both a fairly wide depth of field and a fast shutter speed to achieve good results. The techs for the shot were Canon 1D3 500F4 1/2000 F10, iso 800, Tripod, Wimberley Head. 

One of the surprising things I have found about photographing woodpeckers is that if there is one feeding on the ground you can often approach it quite closely, particularly if you get low.  I found this female Gray-headed Woodpecker feeding on an ant pile in Nam Nao National Park in Thailand.  I was photographing handheld so I decided get down on the ground and crawl up to the bird in the hopes of getting close to it.  As you can see I was able to get very close to it and made some nice portraits.  In this case I will balance the lens plate right on the ground to help stabilize it.  When you are on the ground like this it's easier to shoot horizontally and that works for the bird's orientation when they are on the ground.  The techs for this shot were Canon 1D3 500F4 1.4x 1/200 F7.1, iso 800.  I have also been able to use this approach with various flickers.  

Here's a Red-breasted Sapsucker photographed in Seabeck, Washington.  There was a pair of Sapsuckers which were feeding on sap wells down low.  They kept leaving to feed young and returning to a few spots, one of which was down low and in the open.  So we just set up and waited for the birds to return to the tree which was the best photo opportunity.  About every fifteen minutes they would come through so we were able to get some nice images.  If you can find a good natural food source like this you can usually make some nice images.  The techs were Canon 1DX2, 500F4 1.4x 1/800 F6.3, iso 1250, handheld.

It's also possible to setup situations where you will likely have a good photo opportunity with woodpeckers.  Here's a Northern Flicker from the backyard of our previous home in Lakewood, Washington.  The setup for this is I selected a log, drilled a few holes in it to place suet and supported the log with a Christmas tree stand. This Northern Flicker (red-shafted) obliged as well as several smaller birds.  The techs for this shot were Canon 1D3, 500F4 1/125 F6.3, iso 500, Tripod, Wimberley Head.  Photographed out my open back window (using my house as a blind).    

Here's a more elaborate setup but similar to the previous shot from my back yard.  It's a cholla cactus which has been cut and put in a stand.  There aren't any holes drilled into it so I just sprinkled some suet on it, mostly on the back where it wouldn't show up in the photos.  The birds would either land on it or hover near it and grab bits of suet.  This was taken at one of the locations with a water drip and feeders where we do our Arizona workshops in Amado, Arizona.  The techs for this shot were Canon 5D3, 500F4 1/2000 F6.3, iso 800, Gitzo Tripod, Wimberley Head, blind. 

While we usually think of woodpeckers as feeding on insects and grubs, many species will also come to hummingbird feeders, nectar and sugar water.  This is another image from one of our workshop spots in Amado, Arizona.  This is a setup red yucca stalk which we put sugar water on to attract hummingbirds and orioles.  This male Ladder-backed Woodpecker was kind enough to perch on top of it, nice that his crown nearly matches the color of the yucca.  The techs for this shot were Canon 5D4 500F4 1/3200 F6.3,  iso 800, Gitzo Tripod, Wimberley Head, blind.  Happy Shooting to everyone!