{"id":112869,"date":"2023-04-23T04:42:16","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T10:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=112869"},"modified":"2023-04-23T04:45:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T10:45:59","slug":"female-great-tailed-grackle-iris-variation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/23\/female-great-tailed-grackle-iris-variation\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Great-tailed Grackle Iris Variation"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I photographed Common Loons at my local park this month I also took some female Great-tailed Grackle images and today I am sharing two of them. The reason I’m sharing them is that I noticed variations in the irises of the two female grackles.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring female Great-tailed Grackle portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f8, 1\/640, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I photographed this female Great-tailed Grackle I noticed that her iris wasn’t a clear, light yellow. Her irises had brown, almost cloudy areas that caught my attention. This female Great-tailed Grackle was at the edge of a pond and she appeared to be looking for nesting material.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring female Great-tailed Grackle close up \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 640, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days later I photographed another female Great-tailed Grackle who also appeared to be looking for nesting material. Her irises were light yellow, clear and showed no evidence of brown areas.<\/p>\n

When I compared the two female Great-tailed Grackle portraits and looked closely at the irises of both birds I wondered why there was a difference.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Great-tailed Grackle Iris Variation<\/span><\/p>\n

The female grackle on the right with water in the background is an adult. The female on the left is most likely a first spring, female Great-tailed Grackle, meaning she hatched last year. Their eyes start off brown as chicks and over time become pale yellow. Her head feathers are wet from poking her head into the water.<\/p>\n

I appreciated getting these close up images of both female Great-tailed Grackles<\/span><\/a> so that I could easily compare the eyes and irises of both birds. As I have mentioned before I love being able to take portraits because fine details are easier to see in them. I never pass on taking portraits of my subjects when they come in close to me.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

While I photographed Common Loons at my local park this month I also took some female Great-tailed Grackle images and today I am sharing two of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112860,"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":[27,426,709,26],"tags":[4004,3483,4142,5767,4787,4070,5047,4779,4780,2429,3897,10698,4046,4778,3973,165,8018,30,12776],"class_list":["post-112869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-great-tailed-grackles","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-blackbirds","tag-close-up","tag-eye","tag-eyes","tag-female","tag-first-spring","tag-grackle","tag-grackles","tag-great-tailed-grackle","tag-iris","tag-park","tag-portrait","tag-quiscalus-mexicanus","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-spring","tag-urban","tag-utah-2","tag-variation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-female-spring-eyes-mia-mcpherson-7271-9130.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tmt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55054,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/20\/female-great-tailed-grackle-portrait-in-afternoon-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":112869,"position":0},"title":"Female Great-tailed Grackle Portrait In Afternoon Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This female Great-tailed Grackle was the first bird I photographed yesterday and she was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of her in the nice afternoon light at my local pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Great-tailed Grackle portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.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-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110423,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/21\/coming-soon-great-tailed-grackle-breeding-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":112869,"position":1},"title":"Coming Soon: Great-tailed Grackle Breeding Season","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On two of my most recent walks I have seen Great-tailed Grackles. Seeing them reminded me that Great-tailed Grackle breeding season is coming soon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great-tailed Grackle duo displaying, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-tailed-grackle-males-displaying-mia-mcpherson-2401.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-tailed-grackle-males-displaying-mia-mcpherson-2401.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-tailed-grackle-males-displaying-mia-mcpherson-2401.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Season","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a fun time at my local pond yesterday because it is Great-tailed Grackle breeding season and photographing these grackles kept me on my toes.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Four Great-tailed Grackle males displaying, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.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-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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