{"id":109625,"date":"2023-01-15T05:40:36","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T12:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109625"},"modified":"2023-01-15T05:40:36","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T12:40:36","slug":"male-red-winged-blackbird-in-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/15\/male-red-winged-blackbird-in-january\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Red-winged Blackbird In January"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I was at Farmington Bay WMA three days ago I stopped to photograph a male Red-winged Blackbird that I spotted on an old dead branch.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-winged Blackbird up close \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/320, ISO 500, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The clouds had moved in over the marsh and the light I had wasn’t the greatest so I made the most of what I had. These dark, black birds can be challenging to expose properly and the cruddy, low light actually worked in my favor.<\/p>\n

I was close enough to the male blackbird that I had no choice but to photograph him vertically. Plus, there were branches to his right and left that could have been distracting in my images if I had opted to move farther away from him. I stayed put and photographed him with my camera turned vertically.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-winged Blackbird displaying in January \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/320, ISO 500, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Things got a little dicey when the male Red-winged Blackbird began to sing<\/span><\/a> and display. When he displayed and moved his wings I had zero room side to side and I clipped his wings in quite a few of my photos. I kept firing away him hoping that in a few images his wings wouldn’t be clipped. It was the right choice because I had a few photos where I didn’t clip his ebony wings.<\/p>\n

Red-winged Blackbird males singing and displaying in January isn’t unusual here in northern Utah. Their songs and behaviors are a reminder to me that spring isn’t far away now. I don’t want to wish winter or the moisture we have gotten away but I’d sure enjoy a bit more sunshine than we have had since November!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

While I was at Farmington Bay WMA three days ago I stopped to photograph a male Red-winged Blackbird that I spotted on an old dead branch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109620,"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":[27,1022,697,419,26],"tags":[4004,4151,3813,3483,4897,4142,779,4062,4094,4104,4324,4018,6707,4095,373],"class_list":["post-109625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-branch","tag-close-up","tag-displaying","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-sky","tag-up-close","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-displaying-mia-mcpherson-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-8142.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sw9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":122239,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/01\/male-red-winged-blackbird-singing-in-a-marsh\/","url_meta":{"origin":109625,"position":0},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird Singing In A Marsh","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"One week ago, my ears were delighted to hear this male Red-winged Blackbird singing and calling on the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA. His display was mesmerizing.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird singing in February, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-9213.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-9213.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-9213.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I meant to share this Red-winged Blackbird video clip earlier, but I hadn\u2019t gotten around to merging the two videos and processing them until last night.","rel":"","context":"In "Davis County"","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird displaying on the marsh, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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