The 400mm f/5.6 is Canon's most affordable "L" super-telephoto. It was built to be very light, focus extremely quickly, and be stupidly sharp. It does what it does with perfection and is a superb lens for photographing bids - especially in flight. The 300mm f/4 IS with a 1.4x Extender might seem to be a more attractive choice, which also offers Image Stabilisation. But try this lens once and you'll immediately find out why people love it so much.

This lens can be used with a Canon Extender (teleconverter).  With the 1.4x Extender it makes a 560mm f/8 lens, which will autofocus on 1D-series cameras.  You can also use the 2x Extender to get an 800mm f/11 lens, but you'll have to focus it manually.