Burchell’s starling are common and beautiful in their iridescence but wary so make challenging subjects to photograph well. Their glossy plumage photographs best in flat/diffused light which was not that common under the blazing sun we had in Moremi. I had managed record shots of one that had been alarmed by a hunting Slender mongoose and one foraging around camp, but was struggling to get anything that I was happy with as flat light, a reasonable perch and pose and a reasonable background were too many ands to ask for in the environment we were in.

Luckily there were benefits to the oppressive heat we were enduring. The locals were suffering in it too. This individual starling was resting in the shade of a camp tree on a reasonable perch and tolerated me moving slowly to line up a reasonable background. Focussed on minimising exertion while lowering wings for air circulation and gular fluttering for some evaporative cooling it offered me the opportunity I was hoping for.

Photos with Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 180-600mm f5.6-6.3 VR