{"id":103217,"date":"2022-06-12T05:05:39","date_gmt":"2022-06-12T11:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=103217"},"modified":"2022-06-12T05:05:39","modified_gmt":"2022-06-12T11:05:39","slug":"two-tailed-swallowtail-butterfly-with-serviceberry-blossoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/12\/two-tailed-swallowtail-butterfly-with-serviceberry-blossoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly With Serviceberry Blossoms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Two-tailedTwo-tailed Swallowtail butterfly on a blooming serviceberry \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Late last week I stopped my Jeep in the Wasatch Mountains because I spotted a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly<\/span><\/a> resting on a blooming serviceberry shrub. I look for and pay attention to butterflies and other insects while I am out searching for birds.<\/p>\n

Why wouldn’t I?<\/h2>\n

Insects are often bird food and where I find bird food<\/em> I usually find birds. Insects are also beautiful things that sometimes have wings.<\/p>\n

\"Two-tailedTwo-tailed Swallowtail butterfly on serviceberry blooms close up \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The two long “tails” of this Two-tailed Swallowtail are missing because they have been broken off. I suspect that this is a male because the females typically show more blue on the upper part of the wings than this swallowtail shows. Plus females of this species have broader black stripes than males.<\/p>\n

It was still cool when I photographed this butterfly and it may have rested overnight at this location. Other vehicles had driven past this serviceberry prior to my arrival at this blooming shrub. I wonder if any of the people in those vehicles even saw this brightly colored butterfly.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t resist stopping for it.<\/p>\n

\"Two-tailedTwo-tailed Swallowtail butterfly resting on serviceberry blossoms \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And I am glad that I did. This swallowtail was a beautiful subject to have in my viewfinder. But that isn’t the only reason I am glad I stopped to photograph this butterfly.<\/p>\n

As I photographed this swallowtail I heard the sound of tiny wings. When I looked around my viewfinder I spotted a male Black-chinned Hummingbird close by. If I hadn’t stopped for this swallowtail I wouldn’t have found the hummingbird to photograph. I only needed to move my Jeep forward a few feet to have the male hummingbird in my viewfinder too. I hope to share photos of the male Black-chinned Hummingbird here soon.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider images. Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my wildflower photos along with shrubs and trees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Late last week I stopped my Jeep in the Wasatch Mountains because I spotted a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly resting on a blooming serviceberry shrub.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103207,"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":[5346,1731,11998,26,12953,773],"tags":[4004,6523,6098,6557,7353,6041,6042,3940,4142,6518,5889,10132,4069,11999,6698,6188,165,1732,12003,12004,12000,12954,30,6522,4176],"class_list":["post-103217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shrubs","category-summit-county-utah","category-two-tailed-swallowtails","category-utah","category-utah-serviceberry","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-amelanchier-utahensis","tag-blooming","tag-blooms","tag-blossoms","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-canyon","tag-close-up","tag-flowering","tag-flowering-shrub","tag-fruiting-shrub","tag-mountains","tag-papilio-multicaudata","tag-serviceberry","tag-shrub","tag-spring","tag-summit-county-2","tag-swallowtail","tag-swallowtails","tag-two-tailed-swallowtail","tag-two-tailed-swallowtail-butterfly","tag-utah-2","tag-utah-serviceberry","tag-wasatch-mountains"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/two-tailed-swallowtail-butterfly-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-7497.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qQN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92222,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/14\/two-tailed-swallowtail-and-showy-milkweed\/","url_meta":{"origin":103217,"position":0},"title":"Two-tailed 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2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking beyond the viewfinder paid off for me because if I hadn't done just that I would have missed seeing and photographing this Green-tailed Towhee.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up Green-tailed Towhee framed by a blooming serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-up-close-mia-mcpherson-9121.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-up-close-mia-mcpherson-9121.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-up-close-mia-mcpherson-9121.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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