Turquoise-browed Motmot Accelerating from a Riverside Perch

A motmot flies low through bank-side grasses with its rufous back level and turquoise flight feathers raised into the light at Tárcoles River in Costa Rica. The turquoise crown stripe, blue-green wings and two racket-tipped tail feathers identify the Turquoise-browed Motmot of Costa Rica's Pacific dry country. The exposure of 1/4000 sec, f/5.6 and ISO 1000 freezes the decisive body position and separates the principal wing and tail feathers while retaining only fine traces of motion at the fastest edges; the photograph was made in natural light without flash.