{"id":101491,"date":"2022-04-09T05:21:32","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T11:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=101491"},"modified":"2022-04-09T05:35:55","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T11:35:55","slug":"spring-male-great-tailed-grackle-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/09\/spring-male-great-tailed-grackle-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Male Great-tailed Grackle Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SpringSpring male Great-tailed Grackle close up \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/320, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I had fun taking spring male Great-tailed Grackle portraits because these males were displaying and not paying attention to me or my camera. The male grackles approached me so closely that at times I wasn’t able to focus on them at all. The male grackles were in lovely light which enhanced the iridescence of their feathers.<\/p>\n

\"DisplayingDisplaying male Great-tailed Grackle portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I enjoyed having these male Great-tailed Grackles in my viewfinder. As I took images I watched their behavior and even giggled a few times because these birds can look funny while they are displaying.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Great-tailed Grackle calling portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This calling male Great-tailed Grackle was photographed as he exhibited the Ruff-Out behavior. While this behavior may look intimidating to the other male grackles nearby it simply made me giggle.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Great-tailed Grackle Bill-Up display \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bill-Up or Head-Up display of some of the male Great-tailed Grackles<\/span><\/a> made me giggle too. Obviously I wasn’t the intended audience of the displaying male grackles The other male grackles were.<\/p>\n

The female Great-tailed Grackles I observed were mostly busy finding suitable materials to construct the new nests that I could see in some of the nearby trees.<\/p>\n

In the years that I have been observing and photographing Great-tailed Grackles in Utah I have seen their populations increase. Which means I now have more opportunities to take photos of these fascinating birds than I had in the past.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday morning I had fun taking spring male Great-tailed Grackle portraits because these males were displaying and not paying attention to me or my camera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101479,"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":[27,426,709,26],"tags":[4004,12824,3813,3483,4073,4142,9404,779,4779,4780,2429,12823,4062,10698,4046,4778,12825,3973,165,8018,30],"class_list":["post-101491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-great-tailed-grackles","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bill-up","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-breeding-season","tag-close-up","tag-display","tag-displaying","tag-grackle","tag-grackles","tag-great-tailed-grackle","tag-head-up","tag-male","tag-park","tag-portrait","tag-quiscalus-mexicanus","tag-ruff-out","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-spring","tag-urban","tag-utah-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5934.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qoX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100863,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/16\/it-is-great-tailed-grackle-breeding-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":101491,"position":0},"title":"It Is Great-tailed Grackle Breeding Season","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a fun time at my local pond yesterday because it is Great-tailed Grackle breeding season and photographing these grackles kept me on my toes.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Four Great-tailed Grackle males displaying, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110423,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/21\/coming-soon-great-tailed-grackle-breeding-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":101491,"position":1},"title":"Coming Soon: Great-tailed Grackle Breeding Season","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On two of my most recent walks I have seen Great-tailed Grackles. Seeing them reminded me that Great-tailed Grackle breeding season is coming soon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great-tailed Grackle duo displaying, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-tailed-grackle-males-displaying-mia-mcpherson-2401.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-tailed-grackle-males-displaying-mia-mcpherson-2401.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-tailed-grackle-males-displaying-mia-mcpherson-2401.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Grackle With Her Eyes Aglow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at my local pond two days ago, I couldn't resist photographing a female Great-tailed Grackle whose eyes seemed to be aglow in the morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Great-tailed Grackle with her eyes aglow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-female-eyes-aglow-mia-mcpherson-1901.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-female-eyes-aglow-mia-mcpherson-1901.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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