{"id":110464,"date":"2023-02-23T05:14:20","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T12:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110464"},"modified":"2023-03-03T19:22:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T02:22:28","slug":"male-red-winged-blackbird-foraging-in-grasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/23\/male-red-winged-blackbird-foraging-in-grasses\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Red-winged Blackbird Foraging In Grasses"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a very busy day yesterday, I decided to share a simple photo this morning of a male Red-winged Blackbird foraging in grasses at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n

\"Red-wingedRed-winged Blackbird foraging in grasses on the ground \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had three rounds of snow blowing, shoveling, and scraping yesterday because of heavy snow accumulation in Salt Lake City which made it the second biggest February storm in the state’s recorded history and ninth over all biggest storm. The last time I measured the snow it showed 18 inches on the ruler.<\/p>\n

Anyway, most of yesterday I spent dealing with snow. We need the moisture but I hope we don’t get any more snowstorms like we did yesterday for the rest of this winter.<\/p>\n

Back to the Male Red-winged Blackbird<\/h2>\n

I took this photo of the male Red-winged Blackbird after I spotted it foraging in some grasses that had been knocked down by wind or snow. He had been poking his bill into the grass when I drove up to it almost two weeks ago. When I stopped my Jeep and locked my focus onto him he paused briefly and looked towards me and my Jeep. The male blackbird called<\/span><\/a> once and then flew off with his back to me.<\/p>\n

Days after my interaction with this blackbird at Farmington Bay WMA and while I was on my way to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge’s auto tour loop I saw thousands and thousands of blackbirds streaming north in low light. I could see the blackbirds to the north and the south for several miles. I couldn’t help but smile because I saw the ribbon of birds as a sign of spring. I’m so ready for spring birds!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

After a very busy day yesterday, I decided to share a simple photo this morning of a male Red-winged Blackbird foraging in grasses at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110462,"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":[4004,4151,3813,3483,4136,3747,4109,5943,4062,4094,4324,4095,373],"class_list":["post-110464","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-foraging","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-ground","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-2894.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sJG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":168844,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/02\/10\/thousands-of-blackbirds-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":110464,"position":0},"title":"Thousands Of Blackbirds At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I spent some time with thousands, and thousands, of blackbirds on the auto tour route of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge just as the sun came over the horizon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Red-winged Blackbird glowing in early morning light, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":122239,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/01\/male-red-winged-blackbird-singing-in-a-marsh\/","url_meta":{"origin":110464,"position":1},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-9213.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60640,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/02\/male-red-winged-blackbird-on-a-sunflower-perch\/","url_meta":{"origin":110464,"position":2},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird On A Sunflower Perch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Autumn is a time when the seeds of many plants that the Red-winged Blackbirds feed upon have ripened and the birds are taking full advantage of the season's bounty and spend a large part of their days foraging.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a sunflower, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110715,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/04\/singing-red-winged-blackbird-male\/","url_meta":{"origin":110464,"position":3},"title":"Singing Red-winged Blackbird Male","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"After my long and photo heavy Tundra Swan post yesterday I am keeping my post today simple. I'm sharing a single photo of a singing Red-winged Blackbird male.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing male Red-winged Blackbird on the bank of the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359.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":"Male Red-winged Blackbird singing in January, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-8832.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-8832.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-8832.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-8832.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137487,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/26\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-video-clip-from-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":110464,"position":5},"title":"Red-winged Blackbird Flock Video Clip From Sequoyah 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, 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