There’s a term in sports photography, nature photography, current event photography and probably all photography–The MONEY Shot.  In sports, the money shot could be the wide receiver catching the game-winning pass; in nature photography, something like the Humpback whale breeching up out of the sea; in current events, a fireman walking out of a burning building holding a child.

Bird photography is the same.  When photographing a Slaty Spinetail, the ‘money shot’, as you might imagine, comes in capturing the distinctive spiny tail!  Gail Hull, of Finca Cantaros, has done just that.  In photo #1 below, we see the bold rusty and black coloration of the Slaty Spinetail as it is facing us.  In photo #2 we get the Slaty Spinetail ‘money shot’…a good, close look at that distinctive spiny tail as the bird is facing the other direction.  Well done.

We have three different spinetail species down here in the south; the Slaty Spinetail, the Pale-breasted Spinetail and the Red-faced Spinetail.  All three are quite secretive.

(both photos taken at Finca Cantaros, Sept. 2018 by Gail Hull)