Automatic is a wild card because it may not optimize your shutter speed to capture a sharp wildlife subject.
Do not use auto mode! If up until now you have been shooting on automatic, this is your sign: it’s time to step up your photography game. Automatic is a wild card because it may not optimize your shutter speed to capture a sharp wildlife subject. It may prioritize a low ISO instead of a fast shutter speed, or it may narrow down your aperture when you desperately need to capture more light. You never know when it will do something funky that results in a suboptimal shutter speed, bad depth of field, or high grain. And worst of all, it takes away your control of how the photo looks.