Over the course of six years, these four photographers—Richard Ettlinger, David G. Hemmings, Miguel Lasa, and Jim Neiger—patiently spent countless hours waiting to capture just the right moment. These images, many taken in the New York area, represent fleeting moments revealing behavior that even scientists do not usually see.
These startlingly close-up photographs of birds in flight offer a visual comparison and contrast; each species exhibits unique behaviors, yet there is a commonality in their movements. Among the highlights are images of a female barn swallow feeding her young in midair, a cormorant flying away with a newly caught fish, a pink roseate spoonbill gliding through the air, an Atlantic puffin coming in for a landing, an Arctic tern hunting by delicately dipping its beak just below the surface of the ocean, and an image of a herring gull flying above an eagle—possibly trying to steal a meal.
The exhibition curator for On Feathered Wings: Birds in Flight is Joel Cracraft, Curator-in-Charge and Lamont Curator, Department of Ornithology, Division of Vertebrate Zoology. The photographs in this exhibition were taken from the book On Feathered Wings: Birds in Flight (Harry Abrams), which is available in the Museum Shop for $40.00.
