Any photographer experienced in bird in flight photography will tell you that it is very tricky. Birds can move very fast and if you think they can move fast just think how fast their wings are moving. To be successful at bird in flight photography you will need the best autofocus systems out there and fast lenses. Use very fast shutter speeds to freeze them. If the very tips of their wings are somewhat blurred it will still be okay because you are showing motion. Watch the bird to find out if they always come from the same direction and always follow the same route. Set up a perch so that you know where they are going to fly to. Make sure your background is free from distractions.

          If you are new to bird in flight photography you may want to know how to ease into it. It is always easier to start with larger birds. They move slower for you to follow. It is easier on the camera to keep focus on them and to track them. This will give you some experience. It just takes lots and lots of practice. Here is an example:

This bird (vulture) just took off. It is not moving that fast yet. It is large, so it is slower anyway. You are also warned prior to them taking off because they take a few steps to get airborne. You have another opportunity to take photographs of them in flight when they come in to land because you know approximately where they are going to land (at of near the kill).

          Let's talk composition. Birds in flight are moving, so it is important to give them space to fly into. They need more space in front of them than behind them. Make sure we are not clipping their wings. Truth be told, all of this is happening so fast and it is so difficult to follow these birds with long lenses that composition cannot always be planned well. The solution is to shoot rapid fire. Set your camera to take as many images per second as it can take. Then keep your finger on the shutter and just shoot, doing your best to follow the bird. The most of your images will be a disappointment. Either it will suffer from focus issues or you will have clipped part of the bird. That is okay, because somewhere in that burst of 10 or 20 images will be one that is just right. The way to end up with a few good images of birds in flight is to start off with many images (shoot fast bursts).

          Aren't you lucky that you live in the digital age? Shooting bursts at a high frame rate are free, think what film would have cost you. Just practice and you may just find that it becomes addicting.