{"id":102402,"date":"2022-05-15T04:25:09","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T10:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=102402"},"modified":"2022-05-15T04:25:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-15T10:25:09","slug":"spring-chipping-sparrow-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/15\/spring-chipping-sparrow-images\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Chipping Sparrow Images"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SpringSpring Chipping Sparrow in breeding plumage \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago I had a Chipping Sparrow in breeding plumage perched on sage at the edge of a forest in my viewfinder for a few seconds. I found the sparrow because it was singing plus I recognized its song<\/span><\/a>. I was driving slowly and was able to stop close to the bird because I was paying attention to the sights and sounds around me.<\/p>\n

The sagebrush that the Chipping sparrow was perched on was dying because it was recently uprooted by road grading equipment. Sagebrush<\/span><\/a> is slow growing and long lived and I do wish that the road graders were more careful about uprooting these shrubs because they are an important food source for birds and animals in the Great Basin.<\/p>\n

I liked the great look I was getting from the sparrow so I stayed focused on it even though I felt sad about the dying sage it was perched on.<\/p>\n

\"ChippingChipping Sparrow with a tiny insect in its bill \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

A few frames after I took the first photo I noticed that the Chipping Sparrow had plucked a tiny winged insect from the sage leaves by its head. The insect is too small for me to tell what it was before the sparrow ate it.<\/p>\n

I find Chipping Sparrows in my front yard, high in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountain Ranges, in the foothills and higher elevations of the sky island mountains of the West Desert and other locations during spring and fall migration.<\/p>\n

Moments after these photos were taken a Pine Siskin flew into the sage and chased the sparrow away at which point I started focusing on taking images of the siskin. I will share those images soon.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Two days ago I had a Chipping Sparrow in breeding plumage perched on sage at the edge of a forest in my viewfinder for a few seconds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102392,"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":[27,3541,358,26,1314],"tags":[4004,2519,11480,5552,4053,3543,5370,7801,4069,4104,2817,4057,10452,855,4195,3544,165],"class_list":["post-102402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-chipping-sparrows","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-artemisia-tridentata","tag-big-sagebrush","tag-bill","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-chipping-sparrow","tag-forest","tag-insect","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spizella-passerina","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/chipping-sparrow-adult-on-sage-mia-mcpherson-3128.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qDE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89877,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/03\/chipping-sparrow-with-food-for-its-chicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":102402,"position":0},"title":"Chipping Sparrow With Food For Its Chicks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I was photographing a Lark Sparrow when I spotted this Chipping Sparrow with food in its bill fly in and land on a juniper bough.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chipping Sparrow with food for its chicks, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chipping-sparrow-with-food-for-chicks-mia-mcpherson-3390.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chipping-sparrow-with-food-for-chicks-mia-mcpherson-3390.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago I was able to photograph an immature Chipping Sparrow that landed on a wire fence next to a dusty road in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Chipping Sparrow on a fence, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chipping-sparrow-immature-barb-wire-mia-mcpherson-0013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chipping-sparrow-immature-barb-wire-mia-mcpherson-0013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chipping-sparrow-immature-barb-wire-mia-mcpherson-0013.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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