{"id":108821,"date":"2022-12-18T04:26:51","date_gmt":"2022-12-18T11:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=108821"},"modified":"2022-12-18T04:26:51","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T11:26:51","slug":"female-house-finch-eating-crabapples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/18\/female-house-finch-eating-crabapples\/","title":{"rendered":"Female House Finch Eating Crabapples"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was able to get outside in the bitter cold for about an hour yesterday and found myself focused on a female House Finch eating crabapples close to home.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale House Finch eating crabapples \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The first time I had photographed House Finches eating crabapples<\/span><\/a> was ten days ago after a snow storm went through the Salt Lake Valley.<\/p>\n

It was only 14\u00b0F when I photographed this female House Finch in the crabapple tree. These bitter cold temperatures followed nearly a week of snow falling every day. Even brief exposures to the cold yesterday morning made my hands hurt but it was worth it to get out with these urban birds. I needed to be with them and to be outdoors.<\/p>\n

This House Finch was perched on a small branch above the crabapple<\/span><\/a> that she was eating where she had to bend and twist herself to feed on it. There were times that I laughed out loud while I watched and photographed her mealtime contortions. A few times I thought she was going to lose her grip on the branch and drop to the ground.<\/p>\n

I took more than a hundred images of this female House Finch gorging on this single crabapple yesterday morning. In the future I may share more photos of her. I had a rather severe visual migraine yesterday afternoon which knocked me for a loop. After the migraine subsided I didn’t feel like processing many images at all.<\/p>\n

These House Finches may have been eating these crabapples every winter that I have been in Utah. I might have just missed seeing them when they have been gorging on them. Paying more attention to the crabapple trees may be a benefit for me!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was able to get outside in the bitter cold for about an hour yesterday and found myself focused on a female House Finch eating crabapples close to home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108818,"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":[27,2696,709,26],"tags":[4004,970,13561,13560,6969,8565,6962,4286,4620,3504,3495,6667,7672,10285,2698,2697,12646,4104,4018,13562,8018],"class_list":["post-108821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-house-finches","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-bend","tag-contortions","tag-crabapple","tag-crabapple-tree","tag-crabapples","tag-eating","tag-fall","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-fruit","tag-fruits","tag-gorging","tag-haemorhous-mexicanus","tag-house-finch","tag-malus","tag-perched","tag-sky","tag-twist","tag-urban"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/house-finch-adult-female-crabapples-mia-mcpherson-6331.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sjb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108583,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/09\/crabapples-snow-and-male-house-finch-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":108821,"position":0},"title":"Crabapples, Snow And Male House Finch Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"After I cleared the snow from my Jeep yesterday morning, I went out for a bit and took a few male House Finch photos as they feasted on crabapples.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male House Finch eating a crabapple, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/house-finch-crabapples-male-mia-mcpherson-5885.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/house-finch-crabapples-male-mia-mcpherson-5885.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/house-finch-crabapples-male-mia-mcpherson-5885.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/house-finch-crabapples-male-mia-mcpherson-5885.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":117082,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/16\/male-house-finch-color-comparisons\/","url_meta":{"origin":108821,"position":1},"title":"Male House Finch Color Comparisons","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this male House Finch at Farmington Bay WMA 3 days ago. 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Usually, by March, the crabapples are eaten and long gone.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin on a sunny March morning, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-crabapple-tree-sunny-mia-mcpherson-9572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-crabapple-tree-sunny-mia-mcpherson-9572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-crabapple-tree-sunny-mia-mcpherson-9572.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-crabapple-tree-sunny-mia-mcpherson-9572.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63734,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/05\/winter-american-robin-foraging-in-a-crabapple-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":108821,"position":3},"title":"Winter American Robin Foraging In A Crabapple Tree","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was able to focus on this American Robin as it foraged in the branches of a crabapple tree and took a nice, long series of images of the handsome red-breasted thrush.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin eating a ripe Crabapple in winter, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110111,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/08\/frosty-american-robin-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":108821,"position":4},"title":"Frosty American Robin Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent a little bit of time yesterday taking American Robin photos on frosty grass. 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