{"id":111340,"date":"2023-03-19T04:52:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T10:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=111340"},"modified":"2023-03-19T05:54:22","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T11:54:22","slug":"urban-bird-male-great-tailed-grackle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/19\/urban-bird-male-great-tailed-grackle\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Bird: Male Great-tailed Grackle"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I was walking around my local pond three days ago I enjoyed having a male Great-tailed Grackle in my viewfinder for a bit. He was strolling along nearby. I couldn’t resist photographing him.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Great-tailed Grackle going for a stroll \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There were other Great-tailed Grackles<\/span><\/a> in the area but most of them were in trees or off in the distance. This male grackle was where I could take photos of him as he strutted his stuff on the ground.<\/p>\n

When I first moved to Utah in 2009 I didn’t see many Great-tailed Grackles at all. Their numbers have increased in the years that I have been here and now I see them in more locations than I did before.<\/p>\n

Great-tailed Grackles look very much like the Boat-tailed Grackles<\/span><\/a> that I used to see and photograph in Florida. Great-tailed Grackles are the larger of the two species. Both species have what some people might call annoying songs and calls. Me? I like them. A lot.<\/p>\n

This male Great-tailed Grackle didn’t call even once while I had him in my viewfinder. I wish that he had.<\/p>\n

As the days grow warmer here I plan on seeing, photographing, and hearing these grackles more often. The females already seem busy with nest building even though some mornings are still frosty.<\/p>\n

I had fun photographing this single male Great-tailed Grackle as he walked around the perimeter of the pond. He didn’t seem like he was in a hurry which helped me get the photos I wanted of him. I took quite a few images of him in the grass that I like and I hope to share some of those at a later date.<\/p>\n

For today, however, I thought the rock wall of a pavilion provided a suitable backdrop, emphasizing that this bird is one of the many urban species that I enjoy photographing.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

While I was walking around my local pond three days ago I enjoyed having a male Great-tailed Grackle in my viewfinder for a bit. He was strolling along nearby. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111337,"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":[27,426],"tags":[4004,4779,4780,2429,4062,13756,13755,4778,13757,8018,4236,373],"class_list":["post-111340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-great-tailed-grackles","tag-adult","tag-grackle","tag-grackles","tag-great-tailed-grackle","tag-male","tag-pavilion","tag-peanuts","tag-quiscalus-mexicanus","tag-stroll","tag-urban","tag-walking","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-urban-mia-mcpherson-6010.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sXO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61086,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/30\/male-great-tailed-grackle-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":111340,"position":0},"title":"Male Great-tailed Grackle Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't often get to have Great-tailed Grackles in my viewfinder let alone have them close enough to take portraits of them so when the opportunity presents itself, I jump at the chance.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great-tailed Grackle portrait with grass in the background, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-close-up-in-grass-mia-mcpherson-5124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-close-up-in-grass-mia-mcpherson-5124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On a recent walk around my local pond, I heard the call of a male Great-tailed Grackle. 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