Three images of a Flicker taking off in flight. (Actually five consecutive shots, with shots 3,4&5 merged in the bottom image.)
Top Image: The Flicker is perched on a branch but seems skittish and ready to take off.

The initial take-off flight pose. Note, the bird here is in the same horizontal plane as it is on the top image.

Three images merged into one. Note, the top image is again in almost the same horizontal plane as are the upper two images. As a consequence, it was not possible to merge all five images since the top three would overlap or be co-planar.