Every shoot is a learning experience although the first requirement is actually a long lens. It seems like a 600mm and a 1.5X crop would be needed to get close to the birds. So how do you shoot these birds? A high shutter speed would be needed which you can do with a higher ISO so shooting at 1/200 or higher would be preferable. Surprisingly a narrow DOF is all that is needed as you can get a foot of DOF with a long lens ... more than enough to keep the bird sharp. The contrast between the white colour of the bird and the dark background is a bit of a problem. Minimizing the background would help. Rapid firing is also a good approach as the chance of momement is high. One can certainly get at least a good shot if duplicate shots are taken.
