Using flash for wildlife photography. Does it work?

[footman2000]

As said a larger lens will probably be needed unless you are shooting egrets, herons, or other large birds at close range. With the flash there are several things to consider; ISO, distance, and aperture. are the biggies. I am a proponent of soft delicate light as fill thus a soft box or reflector. Many top bird photographers i.e. Moose and Artie Morris recommend flash and claim their is little to no effect on the birds. Check out there websites for more info. These guys have some amazing stuff and tons of great info up your ally.
Goodtimes

 

[JerryPH]

Good luck with the crows. I can't get anywhere near them around here. They are very wary and always keep a watch crow posted.

I have to dig up and scan that picture one day... the one of my mother feeding a crow that landed on her shoulder after being enticed with food. She just fed for a while. It was wild as it flew off after a while and came back about a week later once more and then disappeared.

 

[Montana]

I will second two things mentioned so far, the better beamer is cheap and effective. And remote strobes near feeders are good too. Another thing to think about is getting that flash up off the hotshoe by quite a few inches (easily done with an ETTL cord and a homemade bracket)

Just for reference, this is a sparrow at around 22 ft taken with a Canon 40D and 600mm f/4 lens and uncropped. So it gives you something to think about. I usually shoot with the 1.4 teleconverter on as well for small birds.

 

[Overread]

Something I have come across form bird photographers is the point that flash appears to have no effect on American birds, but will spook many European birds. This is not really based on any intensive study (that I know of) but more just on the observations of bird shooters.
Its something to bare in mind