{"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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"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":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t