twowindsbear

Shoot lots & Lots & LOTS of pix.

Electrons are cheap!

Then, throw out lots & lots & lots of pix that don't meet your standards.

Good luck!

axiesdad Loc: Monticello, Indiana

With my D3100 I use a Tamron 70-300 (usually zoomed out), the "sports" setting, and single point focus. I'm not saying this is the best possible combination, but I've gotten some shots I'm pleased with. Manual settings provide more control, but birds don't usually hang around very long and I hate it when a good shot goes away while I'm fumbling with buttons.

(Download)

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

It helps if you start with a species that likes to pose. http://www.scotty-elmslie.com/uploads/5/6/3/3/56337819/dsc-3770_orig.jpg That image was captured using a manual focus lens and the exposure set close to Sunny 16 (ISO 400, 1/1000 @ f/11).

Smaller and more nervous birds need to be caught in a predictable location as described above.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I don't know.... this image is pretty soft....

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

Good light, fairly high shutter speed, and accurate focus are the three ingredients to good wildlife or animal photos. And of course a lens long enough to frame your subject without extreme cropping. If you have a feed location, manual pre focusing might work well, but practicing and developing the necessary skills is the difference as it is with most things.

NormanTheGr8 Loc: Racine, Wisconsin

When you progress to birds in flight I started with gulls and Canada Geese you can get relativly close and they like to follow a some what steady path

agillot

i use old stuff [ 80 s ]so manual everything .just seat quietly , the birds [ small ones ] will come .no noise .if you do small birds , a lens is never too long , i use a 800mm with a tc 1.4 on a crop sensor .that is the right formula for small birds .focus on the eyes .you will get better with practice , look at shot done by pros , so you see what they are doing .

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Just wondering....how ARE the birds at Cornell?

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Two ways. I sit on a bench on my front porch and wait for them to land on a fence or a wire or on a telephone pole. I am generally shooting 40 to 50 ft. away so I am using a Nikon 1 J1, FT-1 autofocus adapter and my nikkor 55-300 AFS VR zoom, handheld. With the 1" sensor this gives me an 810mm eq. focal length. I use single point autofocus and spray and pray. The J1 is mirrorless and can fire burst shots quickly. I usually use settings of 1/640, iso 100, f5.6 in good light. Other times I hang around a bush and wait for birds to land closer (same settings). The closer the shot, the more detail is captured. If I get one good shot in an afternoon of shooting dozens of pics, it's a good day.

Daryl New Loc: Wellington,New Zealand

Komac answers your question,practise and patience,in a nut shell....

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I use group auto focus (five central points) for birds in flight and single point focusing for birds that are not moving. I also use center weight metering.

DesertNikon Loc: Vancouver, Wa.

To the OP: Once in a while you just get lucky. I got this the first time I used a long tele!

Thurber Mingus

There is a section on this site for "birds in flight/birds on water" which has several very good tutorials "stickied" at the top of the posts. I suggest you begin here:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-112-1.html

arweber Loc: Pacifica, CA

How lucky you are to have so many birds to shoot. I go out in the wild, so using a tripod would never work. I’m not a fan of mono pods either. Getting birds in flight is more interesting than stationary, so you need to use a fast shutter speed and pan as they fly. I focus on them while they are stationary and keep the focus button depressed while they take off, then shoot and pan. The camera manages to give me many shots in focus. I use a canon 100-400 mm lense.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Start with big, heavy, expensive, fast and powerful telephoto lenses... Add plenty of practice and more than a little patience.... Along with some observation and learning your subject's habits. Then stir in some stalking skills, hides and attractants, as needed and to taste.

Perched birds and those on the ground or in water are EASY...



Birds on the wing are another matter entirely!



I mostly use single point auto focus. When shooting birds in flight (BIF), I may change to a multi-point AF pattern such as zone or expansion points, if the background is plain and/or distant enough that it won't distract the AF, and/or there aren't obstructions between me and the subject.

When shooting birds in trees (BIT?), I sometimes use spot focus. That's a high precision, but slightly slower form of single point that my cameras offer, which allows me to shoot "past" branches, grass, etc. that are between me an the subject.

I use BBF or "back button focusing" with all these and almost exclusively use AI Servo (some call it AF-C), which is continuous auto focusing (intended for moving subjects, but usable with stationary ones, too... though BBF may be necessary).

Finally, I take a LOT of shots.... but only share the good ones!