Hummingbird vs. Viper



Photographer Bence Máté snapped this amazing shot in Costa Rica. He writes:

I was photographing hummingbirds when I heard the sharp, alarming noise of the birds reacting to the presence of a predator. Sixty feet away from me this green-crowned brilliant was fearlessly attacking a small viper. The long shutter speed and shallow depth of field made it difficult to make an image with both animals sharp. This encounter was one of the most interesting ones I had ever seen, and I quickly set up two flashes to increase the light and shutter speed, using one flash fired from the background and another from the camera.


This image was among the winners of the 2010 Nature's Best Photography Competition. It and other winners will be on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. starting in April.

Link via reddit | Artist's Website | Exhibit Website

I would loved to have seen this photographer set up two flashes and one flash in the background (60 feet away?) while all this was happening in what was probably a second or two.

It's a beautiful photo, but I'm not buying the story behind it. Sorry. This, if real, is what takes place in 1/250th of a second or so.
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WordyGrrl, I would doubt you have much experience with hummingbirds. They can be tenacious little bastards. I wouldn't doubt for a second this little guy antagonized that snake for several minutes, giving the photographer plenty of time to catch a number of shots.
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exactly what Wes said, I've seen hummingbirds harrass everything you could imagine, people, other hummers, even a merlin (small falcon that eats birds three times the size of hummers) And those were just ruby throats, most other hummers are even more defensive.
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Note to Neatorama: if you're using IE, you'll get a nice little warning when linking to the artist's page. ("IE is dangerous! Use a different browser," etc.)

Regardless how *neat* the site is, please refrain from linking folks to pages front-loaded with unsolicited, scareware-esque adverts. Yes, I know there is no threat, but I don't think you should reward asinine web behavior like this.

Just my opinion, of course.
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