I can't speak to the D850's availability (it's gotta get better soon), but I DO know that many people have had good luck with their local dealers. Also, don't just check B&H and Amazon - try Roberts, Crutchfield, Best Buy, and even Wal-Mart (got a D800 from their website when no one else had one - just make sure it's Walmart selling it and not some third party).

As to the D850 vs D500 discussion, IMO a gripped D850 makes the D500 redundant. The D850's DX area is 19.4MP - pretty darn close (close enough) to the D500's resolution. I've not used used my D500 a single time since getting the D850 (and I've shot nearly 30,000 images with the D850, so I've been out and about). In my mind, the D850 has a D500 built right in. The D500 still beats a gripped D850 by 1 FPS and has a deeper buffer, but in reality those two factors have not affected my ability to capture BIF / action with the camera.

The way I use the D850 is when the subject is filling up the DX area, I start shooting (note, I'm not necessarily shooting in DX crop mode, just visualizing the area). As I close the distance, I keep putting more pixels on the animal until the opportunity fades away or I'm filling the FX area. This technique allows me to keep a single lens attached and not add TCs or switch to a DX or FX body based on distance as I did with the D5 and D500. (Heck, I hate to admit it, but I haven't used the D5 since getting the D850 either).

Naturally, there are time when I can't close the distance (or have the animal do it for me) and in those cases, I do put on a TC - but it doesn't happen nearly as often as it used to - and I don't miss opportunities while switching the gear up like I did in the past.

I just came back from FL and, honestly, I think I captured some of the best bird photos of my career with the D850 in hand.

Sure. I'm currently updating my computer system and some of these are works in progress as I don't have everything fully calibrated yet (waiting for my Eizo to come in today :). However, I think they show the D850 is more than capable of bird photography. The first three are earlier shots taken without the grip at 7FPS, the rest are more recent @ 9FPS (and I have hundreds more just like them that I need to process - I haven't even sorted / looked at the entire trip yet, these are just quick grabs that caught my eye). IMO, the D850 is the ultimate wildlife camera. It's not 100% perfect and there are times something like a D5 would be better, but for most shots the D850 is hard to beat.

Notes - the third photo is a sanderling, those little birds you find along the beach. If you've ever seen them, you know how fast they fly and how close you need to be to get enough of them in the frame for a photo - the D850 got the job done and at only 7FPS.

Also, note the reddish egret with the fish - sometimes they twist the fish around with their head to sort of "beat" it into submission and getting the egret looking at the camera is where 9FPS helps. Also, I was able to catch this egret and others as they flipped the fish in the air. This is something that you can do on rare occasion with a non-action oriented camera, but I was able to capture quite a few nice flips with the 9FPS of the D850. The truth is, IMO there's not a single shot below that would have been "better" with any other camera. Plus, on most of these I was closer than the DX area so I have between 25 ~46 MP files, depending on the photo. Most are over 30MP after any cropping.

Sure. I'm currently updating my computer system and some of these are works in progress as I don't have everything fully calibrated yet (waiting for my Eizo to come in today :). However, I think they show the D850 is more than capable of bird photography. The first three are earlier shots taken without the grip at 7FPS, the rest are more recent @ 9FPS (and I have hundreds more just like them that I need to process - I haven't even sorted / looked at the entire trip yet, these are just quick grabs that caught my eye). IMO, the D850 is the ultimate wildlife camera. It's not 100% perfect and there are times something like a D5 would be better, but for most shots the D850 is hard to beat.

Notes - the third photo is a sanderling, those little birds you find along the beach. If you've ever seen them, you know how fast they fly and how close you need to be to get enough of them in the frame for a photo - the D850 got the job done and at only 7FPS.

Also, note the reddish egret with the fish - sometimes they twist the fish around with their head to sort of "beat" it into submission and getting the egret looking at the camera is where 9FPS helps. Also, I was able to catch this egret and others as they flipped the fish in the air. This is something that you can do on rare occasion with a non-action oriented camera, but I was able to capture quite a few nice flips with the 9FPS of the D850. The truth is, IMO there's not a single shot below that would have been "better" with any other camera. Plus, on most of these I was closer than the DX area so I have between 25 ~46 MP files, depending on the photo. Most are over 30MP after any cropping.

PS - I also just did an article about how I got the two tern shots (actually. there are four total - two more at the site) that you may find of interest too: https://backcountrygallery.com/taking-terns/

Sure. I'm currently updating my computer system and some of these are works in progress as I don't have everything fully calibrated yet (waiting for my Eizo to come in today :). However, I think they show the D850 is more than capable of bird photography. The first three are earlier shots taken without the grip at 7FPS, the rest are more recent @ 9FPS (and I have hundreds more just like them that I need to process - I haven't even sorted / looked at the entire trip yet, these are just quick grabs that caught my eye). IMO, the D850 is the ultimate wildlife camera. It's not 100% perfect and there are times something like a D5 would be better, but for most shots the D850 is hard to beat.

Notes - the third photo is a sanderling, those little birds you find along the beach. If you've ever seen them, you know how fast they fly and how close you need to be to get enough of them in the frame for a photo - the D850 got the job done and at only 7FPS.

Also, note the reddish egret with the fish - sometimes they twist the fish around with their head to sort of "beat" it into submission and getting the egret looking at the camera is where 9FPS helps. Also, I was able to catch this egret and others as they flipped the fish in the air. This is something that you can do on rare occasion with a non-action oriented camera, but I was able to capture quite a few nice flips with the 9FPS of the D850. The truth is, IMO there's not a single shot below that would have been "better" with any other camera. Plus, on most of these I was closer than the DX area so I have between 25 ~46 MP files, depending on the photo. Most are over 30MP after any cropping.

PS - I also just did an article about how I got the two tern shots (actually. there are four total - two more at the site) that you may find of interest too: https://backcountrygallery.com/taking-terns/

Sure. I'm currently updating my computer system and some of these are works in progress as I don't have everything fully calibrated yet (waiting for my Eizo to come in today :). However, I think they show the D850 is more than capable of bird photography. The first three are earlier shots taken without the grip at 7FPS, the rest are more recent @ 9FPS (and I have hundreds more just like them that I need to process - I haven't even sorted / looked at the entire trip yet, these are just quick grabs that caught my eye). IMO, the D850 is the ultimate wildlife camera. It's not 100% perfect and there are times something like a D5 would be better, but for most shots the D850 is hard to beat.

Notes - the third photo is a sanderling, those little birds you find along the beach. If you've ever seen them, you know how fast they fly and how close you need to be to get enough of them in the frame for a photo - the D850 got the job done and at only 7FPS.

Also, note the reddish egret with the fish - sometimes they twist the fish around with their head to sort of "beat" it into submission and getting the egret looking at the camera is where 9FPS helps. Also, I was able to catch this egret and others as they flipped the fish in the air. This is something that you can do on rare occasion with a non-action oriented camera, but I was able to capture quite a few nice flips with the 9FPS of the D850. The truth is, IMO there's not a single shot below that would have been "better" with any other camera. Plus, on most of these I was closer than the DX area so I have between 25 ~46 MP files, depending on the photo. Most are over 30MP after any cropping.

PS - I also just did an article about how I got the two tern shots (actually. there are four total - two more at the site) that you may find of interest too: https://backcountrygallery.com/taking-terns/