{"id":110715,"date":"2023-03-04T04:02:28","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T11:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110715"},"modified":"2023-03-04T04:07:05","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T11:07:05","slug":"singing-red-winged-blackbird-male","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/04\/singing-red-winged-blackbird-male\/","title":{"rendered":"Singing Red-winged Blackbird Male"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After my long and photo heavy <a title=\"Big &amp; Beautiful: Tundra Swans of Bear River MBR\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/03\/big-beautiful-tundra-swans-of-bear-river-mbr\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Tundra Swan post yesterday<\/span><\/a> I am keeping my post today simple. I&#8217;m sharing a single photo of a singing Red-winged Blackbird male. I photographed him two days ago next to the shore of the Bear River.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-110712 size-full\" title=\"Singing male Red-winged Blackbird on the bank of the Bear River\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359.jpg\" alt=\"Singing male Red-winged Blackbird on the bank of the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20600%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Singing male Red-winged Blackbird on the bank of the Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Red-winged Blackbird&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/xeno-canto.org\/729039\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">song<\/span><\/a> caught my attention as I was driving away from the auto tour route. After I located the male blackbird visually I slowed down and stopped where I had the best light angle to photograph him.<\/p>\n<p>This male Red-winged Blackbird moved from this perch to some grasses along the Bear River and ate some of the grass seeds while I observed him. He stopped singing to focus on food.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the morning I saw several flocks of blackbirds on the wing streaming towards the north. At this time of the year seeing the blackbirds heading north gives me hope that spring will arrive soon. While I obviously enjoy the marshes and wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in the winter, I am ready for warmer weather. Before long the ice on the marshes will melt and more open water will be available for the birds. I can barely wait. It feels like this winter has lasted overly long.<\/p>\n<p>Here in northern Utah we have gotten ample snowfall this winter and that should be good for the refuge and the Great Salt Lake. It should also benefit the birds, including these blackbirds, that breed and nest in the marshes and wetlands. Very soon the marshes and wetlands will be filled with birdsong too. Of course, I am more than excited for that.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/red-winged-blackbird-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">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":"<p>After my long and photo heavy Tundra Swan post yesterday I am keeping my post today simple. I&#8217;m sharing a single photo of a singing Red-winged Blackbird male.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110712,"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":[124,163,1148,419,26],"tags":[4004,4151,4529,3813,3483,4062,4104,4324,5558,6329,4179,4095,373],"class_list":["post-110715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-bird-identification","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-bear-river","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-male","tag-perched","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-river","tag-riverbank","tag-singing-2","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sNJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":113482,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/19\/adult-male-red-winged-blackbird-crooner\/","url_meta":{"origin":110715,"position":0},"title":"Adult Male Red-winged Blackbird Crooner","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I went up to Bear River MBR, I photographed this male Red-winged Blackbird crooner singing loud and strong.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Male Red-winged Blackbird crooner, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101194,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/28\/male-red-winged-blackbird-singing-on-a-sign\/","url_meta":{"origin":110715,"position":1},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird Singing On A Sign","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a simple post this morning of a male Red-winged Blackbird singing on a sign next to the road from my recent trip up to Bear River MBR.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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 a refuge sign","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5066.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5066.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100179,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/24\/singing-male-red-winged-blackbird\/","url_meta":{"origin":110715,"position":2},"title":"Singing Male Red-winged Blackbird And A Birthday Wish","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this singing male Red-winged Blackbird earlier this month while enjoying the marshes and wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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 at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-7320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-7320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-7320.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-7320.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37993,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/09\/first-spring-red-winged-blackbird-males\/","url_meta":{"origin":110715,"position":3},"title":"First Spring Red-winged Blackbird Males","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph several first spring Red-winged Blackbird males.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"First spring male Red-winged Blackbird back view, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5353.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-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5353.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5353.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5353.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7734,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/02\/songs-of-spring-red-winged-blackbirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":110715,"position":4},"title":"Songs of Spring &#8211; Red-winged Blackbirds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Fairly soon I'll be seeing many more of the male Red-winged Blackbirds perching at the top of rushes and cattails singing springtime serenades for the females and flashing their brilliantly colored epaulets","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Male Red-winged Blackbird on a cattail at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-male-5855.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-mia-mcpherson-male-5855.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-male-5855.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":117825,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/05\/male-red-winged-blackbird-and-a-saltcedar\/","url_meta":{"origin":110715,"position":5},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird And A Saltcedar","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw this male Red-winged Blackbird perched in a Saltcedar on my last trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and felt I had to stop to photograph him.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Male Red-winged Blackbird perched in a Saltcedar, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}