Earlier this week I stopped to take a video of a singing male Yellow-headed Blackbird on the auto tour loop of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I’m glad I did.
The song of the ‘rusty gate’ blackbird species makes me smile. Even though the blackbird was across the water, my Nikon D810 picked up its song along with the calls of other birds too.
The Killdeer calling in flight was the loudest but I can hear a Red-winged Blackbird, Marsh Wren, and a Song Sparrow too.
I hope you all can see the blackbird in the video. Sorry for the little bit of shake in the video, I’m taking these handheld.
Male Yellow-headed Blackbird on the last day of winter – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
This is the Yellow-headed Blackbird in the video. He wasn’t close enough for a frame-filling image, but I like this photo anyway.
I did see other Yellow-headed Blackbirds on the auto tour loop. Some of them were snatching midges from the air, but they were always on the wrong side of the road or in poor light. I didn’t get any close photos of this species that morning.
Yellow-headed Blackbird male in spring – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I already have tons of those photos, like this one from April of 2021. I remember having a blast photographing him up close on the west side of the auto tour loop. It was just me, the birds, and the peaceful feeling that flows into me at the refuge.
Soon, more birds on spring migration will arrive at the marshes of the refuge to nest. Other birds will stop by to fuel up for longer journeys to their breeding grounds. I wish them all a successful breeding season.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Yellow-headed Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.
Lovely. I love their funny call and how they will actually tip backwards when singing. They get into the display so much. You will have to stop by and see the wood sculpture I bought in Great Falls. The artist who carved it was a zoologist and a biologist for the USFG who worked at many wetlands before retiring. I bought her sculpture of the yellow headed blackbird because of the pose and placement on the cattails. I can hear the bird sculpture sing in my mind every time I look at it. I asked her to do a redwing black bird and I would buy it too. She said her marsh bird sculptures are not as popular as owls, kestrels, ducks and hummingbirds, but she would think about doing a redwing. I would love a marsh wren too. I should send her some of my photos and commission one of a marsh wren and redwing blackbird.