Macaw in flight

It's unusual to look down on a bird in flight because normally birds fly above us. When birds are particularly colorful with wonderful patterns on their wings, the pictures are pretty compelling. Not always, but it's quite common for the most beautiful parts of birds to be the dorsal surface of their wings. That's why this location is so good for bird photography. I photographed this red and green macaw at a giant sink hole in Brazil near Campo Grande. About 50 pairs of macaws make this unique geological depression their home, and from an observation platform you can see these stunning birds in constant motion. I took this picture with 700mm of focal length -- a 500mm f/4 Canon telephoto plus a 1.4x teleconverter -- and the settings were 1/800, f/10, and 1250 ISO.