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OT! bird photography contest

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Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
IMPORTANT: READ THE MAIN POST AGAIN BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY BECAUSE I CHANGE THE RULES AND SCORING OFTEN

I recently changed the one entry only rule, you can now submit multiple, but only 1 every 24 hours

🦜 Post a bird pic you've taken here and you could win supporter 🦅

Prizes:

First place wins 4 months

Second place wins 2 months

Third place wins 1 month

Rules:

1. You can submit 1 entry every 24 hours. If posting multiple pictures make it clear which one is your entry

2. Must be a wild bird, going to the zoo and taking a picture of an ostrich is cheating

3. The bird must be a species that hasn't been posted here already. This is to prevent easy points from high scoring birds and to increase the variety of bird species in this thread so we don't have a million rock dove pictures. If you do this accidently you can make another entry

4. Ya got 2 weeks so go go


Criteria:

I thought of 4 criteria. All will be graded on a scale from 1 to 5. There's also bonus points you can get, making the maximum score 27.

Bird coolness
Basically how cool the bird is. This is entirely based on my opinion.

A 1 would be a fairly uninteresting bird, like a female house sparrow (breeding males would get maybe 2 points because they have interesting coloration)


A 5 would be an insanely cool bird. I looked up "coolest bird" on google and found this guy:

A male lophorina. So yeah if you live in New Guinea this is how you can get 5 points

Bird rarity
This criteria is straightforward, the rare it is the higher you score

A 1 would be a bird that's common globally like a rock dove


A 5 would be like a hard to find endangered bird like this orange bellied parrot

This is overkill for an example, the threshold for a 5 will be much than a bird with less than like 100 members in the wild, but if you get a pic of a bird this rare you just auto win honestly like who even cares about supporter at this point

Interesting aspects
Kinda vague, but this is like a miscellaneous category like if you photograph a bird doing an interesting behaviour or maybe you photograph a bird with a different coloration or something. Basically this is for anything about the picture that doesn't fall into the other 3 categories.

A 1 would be like the bird is normal and just doing absolutely nothing, I'll reuse the rock dove image for this example


But if you capture something really interesting it's a 5. Here is a majestic picture of a heron shitting


Another thing that could get a 5 is a leucistic bird like this raven


The vast majority of pics are probably getting 1 in this category so don't stress about this category

Photo quality
Basically how good your photo is

A 1 would be like wtf am i even looking at. Here's a pic i took of a yellow-rumped thornbill (on the right maybe two thirds of the way up if you were wondering)


A 5 would be like a professional quality detailed photo like most of the ones above.

Maybe another way to get a 5 would be to get a really well composed photo, so you can still score highly with some cool photo artistry if you can pull it off.

Finally there's a few bonus points you can get:

Bonus points
Doubled Criteria Points (+1-5)
The criteria you score highest in will be doubled. So if you take a really shit photo of a cool bird, your bird coolness score gives 10 points instead of 5. I did this so if a photo excels in one area but not others it is still rewarded, and the max score possible is 25 points. This way if you want you can focus on getting a lot of points in one of these categories instead of a few points in each category.

Bird ID (+1)
There is also a bonus point for IDing the bird. To get this point you need to say exactly what species the bird is. Colloquial terms are fine if they only refer to that one species of bird. It is also fine to maybe list a few species if you are unsure 100% what it could be.

I just think it would be cool to see all the different birds that live around the world because we all come from different places

So yeah go out there and touch some grass by enjoying your local nature, trust me there are some cool birds where you live if you pay attention and start learning about them
Patatitta
banger contest (I will not participate)
Karmine
I would participate but it requires going out and I'm not doing that.
Winnyace
Maybe I will try to get a photo of some birds here, I guess.
WitherMite
but cold...

though if I happen to see something that sticks out like a cardinal, meadowlark, or bluejay I'll try to remember

not much often out and about around this time but crows, canadian psychopaths, and the occasional raven though
Farfocele
As much as I will try to remember it, I just don't see interesting birds that often.
Lyawi
wood pigeon
very thicc
not rare at all
trying to lift a stick but it was too heavy

(i expect people to post something better than this)

https://ibb.co/dtD3SGs embed doesn't work

I can help you identify birds.
Karmine

Lyawi wrote:

wood pigeon
very thicc
not rare at all
trying to lift a stick but it was too heavy

(i expect people to post something better than this)

https://ibb.co/dtD3SGs embed doesn't work

I can help you identify birds.

Embed works :cool:
Isshiki Kaname
Lyawi

Isshiki Kaname wrote:

all of them city pigeons~ the brown one is fancy looking.
- Felix
the bird tragically flew away before i took the picture but now you can imagine the bird wherever you want
WitherMite
I still cant find the bird in the bad photography example
abraker
I hope there are composition points




Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

WitherMite wrote:

but cold...

though if I happen to see something that sticks out like a cardinal, meadowlark, or bluejay I'll try to remember

not much often out and about around this time but crows, canadian psychopaths, and the occasional raven though
Yeah I didn't think of this, I'm guessing northern places are pretty nerfed in this contest because all the migratory birds dipped. Maybe I could do this in half a year if people enjoy this thread so the migratory birds up north can be at full power. Don't want to give spoilers for what birds I like, but out of the birds you mentioned a few of them would score pretty high in coolness for me.

WitherMite wrote:

I still cant find the bird in the bad photography example


Although I'm honestly not fully confident that this isn't just a leaf or something, so here is a picture I took that's a bit more clear:



Both would get a 1 in the photography department though
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Entry 1: Lyawi, Wood Pigeon


Pretty cool entry for the first one, i was expecting a lot of photos like Isshiki Kaname's lol.

I was thinking whether i should wait until the end to do all of these ratings at once or do them as pictures come in, and although i feel like doing them all at the end would be fairer, doing it this way would be more fun and create more engagement i feel.

I've never actually seen a wood pigeon before, apparently they're only found in Europe so it's no wonder why, thanks for the cool new bird.

I also want to say that these ratings aren't final, they will definitely change as i rate more pictures and further refine my ratings.

Bird coolness: 3

I need to exercise self control and not rate birds i haven't seen before highly just because they're new to me, so this guy gets a 2 in this category for now. I'm actually quite fond of pigeons, but i gotta admit most of them aren't that cool, mostly because they're really common. I really like how this guy looks, like a rock pigeon but pastel. I could see this being upgrade to a 3 in the future.

Edit: In retrospect, these guys get a 3. Being in the same tier as rock doves feels criminal.

Bird rarity : 2

They aren't global, but are apparently super common and easy to find and have a very large distribution all things considered, so it gets a 2 in this category.

Interesting aspects: 4

hehe stick very cute

Photo quality: 5

Even though the resolution is pretty low, i really like this photo. The lighting is really good, and the foreground and background being out of focus creates a really cool effect. It kinda feels like a circle surrounding the bird, funnelling your vision towards it. And i really like how it's off centre as well, idk it makes it feel more natural maybe.

Edit: In retrospect, this gets a 5. My only complaint is that it's low quality, but i feel like this shouldn't be as big of a deal, and i'm willing to bet it's low quality because the original was too large to be posted anyway.

Bonus points: 6

You know what the mutual bonus point is kinda cringe so I'm removing it (surely we still mutual though)

It gets 4 extra points because of the doubled points from the highest category, as well as 1 extra point for the successful bird ID.

Edit: In retrospect, it gets a 6.

Overall: 20/26

Very strong entry, I expect this to place highly unless we get some more bangers in the future.
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Entry 2: Isshiki Kaname, Rock Doves


Truly inspiring pic

Bird coolness: 2

As i said before i like pigeons so it's a 2 in this category. If you actually look closely at rock doves, they actually look very pretty, i like the iridescent green and purple sheen that they have on their necks, and the lines on their wings as well, although you can't really see either in this pic. It's also cool how these birds have tonnes of different colorations, stemming from their domestication.

Bird rarity : 1

Literally the example bird i used for what a rarity 1 bird would be like.

Interesting aspects: 3

I guess one of the birds being brown is kinda cool.

Photo quality: 1

I know i said that that a 1 would be a "what am i even looking at" type of photo, but this is the other way to get a 1. Like this photo probably took 5 seconds and 0 effort to take, and it's really uninteresting nor is it aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus points: 3

It gets 3 extra points because of the doubled points from the highest category.

Unfortunately the bonus point from the bird ID is missed, you could've literally typed any variation of "rock pigeon", "rock dove", "city pigeon", "street pigeon, ""common pigeon", "feral pigeon", "domestic pigeon" etc and you'd get a bonus point.

Overall: 10/26

I expect this to be one of the weaker entries, it's really just one of the birds being brown that's carrying this score.
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

- Felix wrote:

the bird tragically flew away before i took the picture but now you can imagine the bird wherever you want
I won't count this as an entry because there aren't any birds, you can submit another pic if you want. Nice looking place though.
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Entry 3: abraker, Canada Geese



Bird coolness: 4

I've heard so much about these guys, I feel like they'd be the most iconic North American bird outside of bald eagles. I really want to see one in person. They also look pretty interesting with the black heads and feet, with the bit of white they have.

Bird rarity : 2

Same reasoning as the wood pigeon, they aren't that global but I assume they'd be really common and easy to find.

Interesting aspects: 2

It's nice to see different angles, and the one facing forward is very cute.

Photo quality: 3

Kinda interesting composition, but idk it's just not that compelling to me, I actually prefer the bonus pic lol.

Edit: In retrospect, as i have a better feel for this category now, this is a 3.

Bonus points: 4

It gets 4 extra points because of the doubled points from the highest category.

Unfortunately the bonus point from the bird ID is missed.

Overall: 15/26

I think i'm going to add a new rule that you can't submit an entry of a bird that's already been posted here. This way people don't just find birds like a Canada goose that's easy points in the coolness category. And this way we can get a bigger variety of birds, and there'd also be a strategic advantage to taking a pic earlier instead of just waiting the entire two weeks to submit, in case someone snipes your bird. Hopefully this also means a steady stream of bird pics instead of just a bunch at the start and a bunch at the end.
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
NEW RULE: YOU CAN'T POST AN ENTRY OF A BIRD THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN POSTED HERE.

Your entry won't be disqualified for doing this, it just won't count and you'll get another chance.

I think by doing this we can make this contest more interesting. There's now a strategic element, if you take a photo of a common bird you gotta post it fast or it could get sniped. Also this way hopefully we'll see a more interesting variety of birds and a more steady stream of pictures.
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
insane septuple post
Polyspora
the last time I saw a bird the dumbass killed itself under my car
WitherMite

Polyspora wrote:

the last time I saw a bird the dumbass killed itself under my car
once saw a crow just living its best life in a parking lot with one leg and one eye
Polyspora

WitherMite wrote:

Polyspora wrote:

the last time I saw a bird the dumbass killed itself under my car
once saw a crow just living its best life in a parking lot with one leg and one eye
lmao
MrAdeo
So I have one pretty cool photo but it's pigeon... I want to share it with you if it don't count can I get another entry with something more interesting?
Corne2Plum3

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

insane septuple post
Don't do this again thanks
Polyspora

Corne2Plum3 wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

insane septuple post
Don't do this again thanks
??? it literally contributes to the thread
MrAdeo

here is my photo of pigeon (damn it's not loading...) (fixed) (fixed 2 but quality sucks :( )
(https://i.ibb.co/HxT5jr3/123456.png HQ version if you want)
Wimpy Cursed

- Felix wrote:

the bird tragically flew away before i took the picture but now you can imagine the bird wherever you want
place looks great
- cirno -

here is a picture of a chicken that got out of one of our neighbor's yards :3
Polyspora
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Entry 4: MrAdeo, Rock Doves RETRACTED

Retracted because I forgot the main reason why I made that "You can't post a bird that has already been posted here" rule, and now that I remembered it I think it's better to retract this unfortunately


Full size image

Damn ok this is so cool that I'm deleting the "You can't post a bird that has already been posted here" rule, it is now being relegated to a bonus point.

Bird coolness: 2

Already explained this before

Bird rarity : 1

Already explained this before

Interesting aspects: 3

Cool shot of bird taking flight, is it landing or or flying up?

Photo quality: 4

Hot damn this is fire. First the bird being centred in this shot is beautiful. I like the harshness of the distinction between the stone stairs and the sky, it really feels like it captures the essence of what it's like to be a feral pigeon on the grey streets nesting in buildings with sharp edges. Looking more closer I have a few nitpicks though, the random stuff in the background kinda takes away from the magic of the photo, and there's a weird grainy effect in the sky.

Bonus points: 4

It gets 4 extra points because of the doubled points from the highest category.

Unfortunately the bonus point from the bird ID is missed. I know "pigeon" was said, but there are literally 344 species in the Columbidae family, so 344 different species of bird you can call pigeons. For this bonus point I want to see the exact species of bird, or at least a colloquial term that can only refer to this exact species of bird, or at least a few species it could be if it's not clear.

Also as the first entry that is not of a new bird, unfortunately it doesn't get the new species bonus point either.

Overall: 14/27

Honestly wish I could give a higher score, but yall gotta start taking pictures of things that aren't pigeons, 3/5 of the entries are pigeon photos lol
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Entry 4: - cirno -, Chicken


In the rules I said wild birds only but honestly I did the exact same thing with my bird life list so I'll count this lol

Bird coolness: 1

Literally just a chicken

Bird rarity : 1



Interesting aspects: 1

Idk he's just there

Photo quality: 2

I'd definetly say it's not a 1, we can see the chicken pretty clearly in this photo.

Bonus points: 3

It gets 2 extra points because of the doubled points from the highest category.

It also gets the bird ID point, because there is literally no other bird called a "chicken".

Overall: 8/26

Chicken
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

MrAdeo wrote:

So I have one pretty cool photo but it's pigeon... I want to share it with you if it don't count can I get another entry with something more interesting?
Oh shit I didn't see this before I did your entry, because I changed the rules you can retract your current entry and submit another one if you want

Edit: wait wtf I completely forgot the main reason I made that rule, so people don't abuse easy high point birds like canada geese

So unfortunately I'm retracting your entry, just know that it was very cool and I liked it a lot



Corne2Plum3 wrote:

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

insane septuple post
Don't do this again thanks
Ok I was more efficient this time, so only a triple post



Polyspora wrote:

Nice flower
igorsprite
B1rd :?:
abraker
well now that I posted my entry I cant try and beat the top score

missed opportunity for better bird pics as well

this thread may as well not exist to me anymore
mizu_chuu
hi ostrich pic on my neighbors farm










ooeeoo
MrAdeo

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

Entry 4: MrAdeo, Rock Doves RETRACTED

Retracted because I forgot the main reason why I made that "You can't post a bird that has already been posted here" rule, and now that I remembered it I think it's better to retract this unfortunately


Full size image

Damn ok this is so cool that I'm deleting the "You can't post a bird that has already been posted here" rule, it is now being relegated to a bonus point.

Bird coolness: 2

Already explained this before

Bird rarity : 1

Already explained this before

Interesting aspects: 3

Cool shot of bird taking flight, is it landing or or flying up?

Photo quality: 4

Hot damn this is fire. First the bird being centred in this shot is beautiful. I like the harshness of the distinction between the stone stairs and the sky, it really feels like it captures the essence of what it's like to be a feral pigeon on the grey streets nesting in buildings with sharp edges. Looking more closer I have a few nitpicks though, the random stuff in the background kinda takes away from the magic of the photo, and there's a weird grainy effect in the sky.

Bonus points: 4

It gets 4 extra points because of the doubled points from the highest category.

Unfortunately the bonus point from the bird ID is missed. I know "pigeon" was said, but there are literally 344 species in the Columbidae family, so 344 different species of bird you can call pigeons. For this bonus point I want to see the exact species of bird, or at least a colloquial term that can only refer to this exact species of bird, or at least a few species it could be if it's not clear.

Also as the first entry that is not of a new bird, unfortunately it doesn't get the new species bonus point either.

Overall: 14/27

Honestly wish I could give a higher score, but yall gotta start taking pictures of things that aren't pigeons, 3/5 of the entries are pigeon photos lol
Yes, I fully understand the final score, that's why I asked earlier if I could participate in the competition with another bird, but if it counts, then no big deal! If not, I can send someone else. I just wanted to share this wonderful photo with someone :)

This is a dove taking off, the photo was taken in 2017 on a simple camera part-time on one of the best days of my life :)

This photo is extremely random, I'm not exactly a photographer, I'm still surprised how I managed to capture such a moment and so that it was not blurred, and with such a sky, I did not edit the photo in Photoshop at all

The dove is simply the most common bird species, in my area there are also tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), bullfinches, I once saw an eagle owl, many different birds, I searched for photos on my computer, but found only ducks, unfortunately
MrAdeo

mizu_chuu wrote:

hi ostrich pic on my neighbors farm










ooeeoo
Ostriches are funny, by the way, thanks to you I remembered the photos I took in one zoo a long time ago, that day a peacock escaped from the cage and flew around the entire zoo, but he was sitting quite high and I didn't get any beautiful and interesting photos
MrAdeo
Oh, I wanted to share interesting photo of some birds but double-checked rules and photo from zoo is not allowed, well, if I catch some interesting photo with my local birds, i will share! btw I think birds is my favorite animals
Farfocele
well, I'm still waiting to see a bird, lol.
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

abraker wrote:

well now that I posted my entry I cant try and beat the top score

missed opportunity for better bird pics as well

this thread may as well not exist to me anymore
I think I'm going to change the rule to say you can submit multiple entries, but only 1 every 24 hours, so people can improve on their scores, and the more bird pics the better for me
abraker

DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:

abraker wrote:

well now that I posted my entry I cant try and beat the top score

missed opportunity for better bird pics as well

this thread may as well not exist to me anymore
I think I'm going to change the rule to say you can submit multiple entries, but only 1 every 24 hours, so people can improve on their scores, and the more bird pics the better for me
awesomeness

for my next entry I shall 1-up

sametdze


magpie LARK

"good old Collingwood forever, they know how to play the game." aah bird
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

sametdze wrote:



magpie

"good old Collingwood forever, they know how to play the game." aah bird
That's a magpie lark 💀
sametdze
is that a good thing or a bad thing?

oh it turns out im stupid and just don't know enough about magpies. i see black and white bird, i have feeling it will swoop me. sorry lol
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

sametdze wrote:

is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Bad because it's a completely different bird, you got bamboozled
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL

sametdze wrote:

is that a good thing or a bad thing?

oh it turns out im stupid and just don't know enough about magpies. i see black and white bird, i have feeling it will swoop me. sorry lol
To be fair they swoop as well so you aren't that incorrect in your threat assessment
sametdze
edited my entry to say "magpie lark"
Topic Starter
DM FOR MUTUAL
Entry 5: abraker, American White Ibis


The bird photographer savant himself, abraker is the first person to submit a second entry, basically right after I changed the rules. But will his second entry score higher than his first?

Bird coolness: 1

I'm not the biggest fan of Ibises. I know they're the cool Egytian hyreoglyphic bird, but idk we have them in Australia too so they don't feel that special. Besides, the Australian ones look way cooler than the generic full white body with an orange beak and legs.

Bird rarity : 2

I'm not familiar with these birds so i have no idea how hard to find they'd be. They look pretty large and distinct, feed on the ground and are classified as "Least Concern", so i'm guessing they'd be pretty easy to find. I would appreciate if anyone familiar with these birds could give more insight on their rarity.

Interesting aspects: 1

Apparently their beaks turn pink in breeding season

Photo quality: 3

It's very nice how it's decent quality and the bird fills a lot of the frame. Everything else feels very basic though.

Bonus points: 3

It gets 3 extra points because of the doubled points from the highest category.

Unfortunately, there was no ID, so it doesn't get the bonus point there. This was the first bird i had to go out of my way to ID.

Overall: 10/26

So yeah i like the goose pic better

I'm also upgrading the photo quality of the goose pic to 3, and also changing some of the ratings for the wood pigeon pic.
mizu_chuu
was my entry not seen or did i miss smth
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