I have to take pictures of raptors (birds of prey) for a class. They're usually pretty high in the sky, soaring, so I'd be shooting their underside and maybe get part of their head. Any suggestions?

Hmm. What is your budget?
Because you are looking for a DLSR with a biiiiig telephoto lens, if you want to get a good quality.

i'm borrowing a friend's canon rebel eos, she said she had a telephoto lens too, but i don't know how big...

Okay. You have to get at least 300mm IMO.

okay, ty for the help qhotex

Try to get an angle on them, shooting straight up probably won't work out that well unless its a cloudy day.
If it is sunny and you expose for the sky, the bird will probably be a black/dark spot on the picture. If you expose for the bird, the sky will probably be blown out. It'll be challenge to keep both things exposed properly while keeping detail in both.

If you can get a shot with some ground/background/foreground, people will be able to understand what you're shooting even if the sky is blown out.

Thanks so much warcow, really useful info. Much appreciated

How long do you have for this assignment? Last semester I had a similar assignment but I had to chase an owl (very rare here). After asking around and finding an old barnhouse, I was able to get it waking up at 5 am. The A+ I got was well worth the 3 days I spent chasing it.

I have about 4 weeks. I have to do 20 hours of raptor watching, and if I include good pictures I get extra credit... What state are you in? Owls are all over here, just hard to find them in the dark night sky