{"id":20355,"date":"2026-11-01T06:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/?p=20355"},"modified":"2026-11-01T06:49:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:49:49","slug":"burchells-starling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/20355","title":{"rendered":"Burchell’s Starling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Burchell's<\/a>
Burchell’s starling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Burchell’s starling<\/a> 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Burchell's<\/a>
Burchell’s starling trying to stay cool in the heat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Burchell's<\/a>
Burchell’s starling gular fluttering with drooping wings to shed heat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Photos with Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 180-600mm f5.6-6.3 VR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Burchell's Starling. 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