{"id":101040,"date":"2022-03-26T05:10:26","date_gmt":"2022-03-26T11:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=101040"},"modified":"2025-05-20T15:02:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T20:02:28","slug":"singing-female-yellow-headed-blackbird-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/26\/singing-female-yellow-headed-blackbird-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Singing Female Yellow-headed Blackbird At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Yellow-headed Blackbird about to sing \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a wonderful and relaxing morning at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a> yesterday and took photos of a female Yellow-headed Blackbird singing on the marsh not long after sunrise.<\/p>\n

Yes, female Yellow-headed Blackbirds sing.<\/p>\n

Female Yellow-headed Blackbirds have one song. Yesterday was the first time I have photographed a female singing and it delighted me to hear and<\/em> see her singing. Much attention is paid to the vocal array of males of this species but the females, not so much.<\/p>\n

\"SingingSinging female Yellow-headed Blackbird \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This singing Yellow-headed Blackbird was not in the best of light. I made do with the light I had. I found it interesting that the female blackbird displayed a similar posture that I have seen countless times from males, the Song Spread, although her posture was less flamboyant than what I have seen from the males. Her song had similar “squeaky\u00a0 gate” notes to it that we hear from males. It is almost hard to call those notes songs.<\/p>\n

The sun was up, the sky was clear and spring was definitely in the air at the refuge yesterday morning. I saw my first of the year Long-billed Curlews, Black-necked Stilts and several Tree Swallows on the wing. Almost all of the swans have left for their breeding grounds, I only saw four of them yesterday. The birds on the marsh were singing and calling which was a delight to hear.<\/p>\n

I found what I needed yesterday morning at the refuge. Birds. Peace. Nature. Plus I took my own sweet time and soaked it all in.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Yellow-headed Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had a wonderful and relaxing morning at Bear River MBR yesterday and took photos of a female Yellow-headed Blackbird singing on the marsh not long after sunrise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,26,427],"tags":[4004,3813,3483,4008,4070,4094,4378,4099,4104,4059,6428,8882,165,4095,4178,1386],"class_list":["post-101040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-yellow-headed-blackbird","tag-adult","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-box-elder-county","tag-female","tag-marsh","tag-morning","tag-morning-light","tag-perched","tag-phragmites","tag-phrags","tag-song-spread","tag-spring","tag-wetlands","tag-xanthocephalus-xanthocephalus","tag-yellow-headed-blackbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-adult-female-spring-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qhG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41972,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/15\/male-yellow-headed-blackbird-displaying-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":101040,"position":0},"title":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird Displaying at Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this male Yellow-headed Blackbird displaying at Bear River MBR it was a beautiful May morning and all the birds there were singing.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird displaying, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherosn-5386.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherosn-5386.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherosn-5386.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherosn-5386.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57874,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/05\/16\/female-yellow-headed-blackbird-foraging-on-the-ground-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":101040,"position":1},"title":"Female Yellow-headed Blackbird Foraging On The Ground At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The fore and background of this image may be messy or cluttered looking but I love the way this photo shows the female Yellow-headed Blackbird in the habitat I find them in at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Yellow-headed Blackbird foraging on the ground, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-female-ground-mia-mcpherson-5702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-female-ground-mia-mcpherson-5702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-female-ground-mia-mcpherson-5702.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-female-ground-mia-mcpherson-5702.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":83477,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/06\/spring-yellow-headed-blackbird-male-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":101040,"position":2},"title":"Spring Yellow-headed Blackbird Male Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning and came home with some spring Yellow-headed Blackbird photos I am happy with.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird perched in phrags, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-adult-phrags-mia-mcpherson-3783.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-adult-phrags-mia-mcpherson-3783.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-adult-phrags-mia-mcpherson-3783.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-adult-phrags-mia-mcpherson-3783.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4696,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/30\/yellow-headed-blackbirds-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":101040,"position":3},"title":"Yellow-headed Blackbirds – Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yellow-headed Blackbirds have begun to show up in large numbers in my area of the country. I'm seeing them perched on cattails, phragmites and in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-headed Blackbird male displaying, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25298,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/06\/07\/female-yellow-headed-blackbirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":101040,"position":4},"title":"Female Yellow-headed Blackbirds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Female Yellow-headed Blackbirds are often overlooked by casual viewers and bird photographers because they aren't as flashy as the males.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Yellow-headed Blackbird with food for her chicks perched in a Willow at Farmington Bay 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Blackbird Images From The Marsh At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I wanted to share a five image series of a male Yellow-headed Blackbird that I photographed in the marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge this morning that I took the second week of May.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-headed Blackbird male preening on a cattail, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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