{"id":109901,"date":"2023-01-29T05:04:19","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T12:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109901"},"modified":"2023-12-16T03:15:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T10:15:32","slug":"european-starling-in-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/29\/european-starling-in-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"European Starling In Snow"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning my subject is a European Starling in snow. I know some people hate these birds. I know some photographers won’t raise their lens for them. I do.<\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter European Starling in snow \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I took this European Starling photo four mornings ago after an overnight snowfall. The light wasn’t great when I took this image but I liked the intimate view I had of this starling as it walked around looking for ripe crabapples in the snow.<\/p>\n

European Starlings are birds people love to hate<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When I am photographing European Starlings<\/span><\/a> I don\u2019t think about them being invasive pests, I think of them as wild, feathered, living subjects. I am aware that some people consider them to be horrible pests that cause problems for our native birds. I simply can\u2019t blame the starlings for being in this country because it was misguided humans who took them from their homeland and released them here in North America about 130 years ago.<\/p>\n

I like the nonbreeding plumage of these starlings and how it appears that they have tiny white hearts all over their chests and bellies during this plumage phase. Those tiny hearts matched the color of the snow in this photo. This starling was right under a crabapple tree when I photographed it. The branches of that tree sheltered the ground below from the snow which is why I could see some grasses poking through the snow.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed having this starling in my viewfinder and I’m happy with the images I took of it.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This morning my subject is a European Starling in snow. I know some people hate these birds. I know some photographers won’t raise their lens for them. I do. 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European Starling","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought I was going to go home without any frame filling bird photos until this European Starling flew in and landed next to the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"European Starling in winter next to a pond, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/european-starling-pond-winter-mia-mcpherson-3572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/european-starling-pond-winter-mia-mcpherson-3572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"European Starling perched on frosty barb wire, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-on-frosty-barb-wire-mia-mcpherson-9976.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-on-frosty-barb-wire-mia-mcpherson-9976.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-on-frosty-barb-wire-mia-mcpherson-9976.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-on-frosty-barb-wire-mia-mcpherson-9976.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63755,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/06\/european-starling-on-a-snowy-winter-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":109901,"position":2},"title":"European Starling On A Snowy Winter Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When this European Starling perched in a Crabapple tree close to me during the snowstorm I was able to get a few photos of it before my hands started to hurt from the cold.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"European Starling perched in a Crabapple tree, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-6792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-6792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-6792.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-6792.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54718,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/22\/european-starling-facts-and-information\/","url_meta":{"origin":109901,"position":3},"title":"European Starling Facts and Information","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Personally I am fascinated by European Starling murmurations, their interesting, beautiful plumage and how they can mimic the calls and songs of other birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"European Starling lifting off from rusty barbed wire fence, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-rusty-barbed-wire-mia-mcpherson-2184.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-rusty-barbed-wire-mia-mcpherson-2184.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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pond's edge, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-pond-winter-mia-mcpherson-2670.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-pond-winter-mia-mcpherson-2670.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-pond-winter-mia-mcpherson-2670.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/european-starling-pond-winter-mia-mcpherson-2670.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49128,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/25\/adult-and-juvenile-european-starlings-in-fall-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":109901,"position":5},"title":"Adult and Juvenile European Starlings in Fall Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have an alternate title for this post which is \"Invasive European Starlings perched on invasive Russian Olives\" because both the birds in this post and the trees are not native but introduced.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Molting juvenile European Starling, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/european-starling-juvenile-molting-mia-mcpherson-1638.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/european-starling-juvenile-molting-mia-mcpherson-1638.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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